Birthday gifts

I'm blogging again…twice in a single day. I think I'm back online coz I've sorta finished the semester at Harvestwest. The last 2 months have been academic hell for me. Funny huh, experiencing 'hell' in a Bible College. I had assignments due every week, one or sometimes 2 in a week. On top of that I had full-time work in the day. Result is no life whatsoever.

Regardless, I'm back with a vengeance. So to the topic at hand. How do you tell if a gift you've given to someone is not something they wanted or expected? I was chatting to my youth pastor the other day at dinner and he was quite perceptive. He said you can tell by the split second reaction they get after they've opened the present. Imagine with me for a second that I've given someone named John something he didn't want.

Jimmy: Happy birthday John! Here I got you a little something.

John: Oh thanks Jimmy! Can I open it?

Jimmy: sure, go for it.

John (opens present): Oh..a picture frame! Haha! Thanks!

Now, it's probably a little hard to imagine it when written as words on a screen. But the key is when the person actually says out loud what you got him/her. Just having the person say that, you can tell that it wasn't what he expected or wanted. If you watch a person's face, you can also see the tiny moment when their guard is down. There is a split second after they've opened the present when they think, "What the heck! This guy got me a picture frame!" The thought then vanishes as quickly as it came and they regain their composure, thus they try to be as civil as possible without losing it completely.