Monday, April 21, 2008

Best Tangible Gift of 2008

A few weeks ago when Carter and I were at dinner I told him that I wished a Barnes and Noble were nearby because I wanted to buy Tim Keller's new book The Reason for God. The book came out on Valentine's Day, and I'm surprised I didn't make an effort to get it any sooner. Tim Keller is my favorite pastor, and I have well over 100 of his sermons in my itunes. My faith has deepened and become so much more informed because of his teaching. What's funny is that I'd never heard him in person until my trip to NYC last year.

Anyway when we got back to the toolshed after dinner Carter said he had a surprise for me. Not only did he have the long-awaited book for me--he'd managed to get Tim Keller to address it to me and sign it--no small feat. How he worked that out involves multiple e-mails, a trip to NYC (for work), a Fed Ex drop bag in a last ditch effort, and some other maneuvering that I'll spare you the details of. Needless to say I was touched by the gesture and just generally joy-filled to receive a gift from Carter that shows me that he "gets me." I really can't think of a better gift for me, therefore this gift currently holds the "Best Gift of 2008" (so far) Award. What gift gets the award for you?

p.s. I'm thankful for comp time....since I worked on Saturday from 6:45 a.m. until after 3:00 I didn't have to go into work today until 2:45, which meant I cooked, went for a run in the gorgeous sunny weather, had some good conversation at Panera over breakfast, and generally enjoyed a relaxed day.

13 comments:

Ronman said...

It's such a wonderful thing when someone really gets you. Congrats on the gift as well ma'am.

Ronman

Pam said...

What a wonderfully thoughtful gift!

Aaron said...

I'm glad I get the 411 before the blog comes out. :D

cdp said...

I was all thinking that was a nice gift and everything and then I saw the picture. GOOD LAWD, woman! What a sweet and thoughtful thing to do. Carter's stock just went way up in my book.

My best gift so far was the card M gave me for Valentine's Day - it had an old black and white picture of a couple laying on a sandy beach on it - and he took pictures of the two of us, cut them out, and pasted them over the picture on the card, with funny captions to boot. It was really hilarious.

Happy Tuesday!

Anonymous said...

What a NOVEL idea for a gift.DR. RJJ

Jennifer Kirby said...

Tim Keller is also my favorite! I got to attend his church, Redeemer Pres., when I lived in NY for a summer. He is amazing. Great gift!

boohoo said...

aww that's a great gift :)

best present of 2008? hmm... moving in with my boyfriend was the best present ever :)

ella said...

Carter is the perfect man!

I think we've talked about this before, but I used to go to Redeemer in NYC and was never a big fan of Tim Keller. He was a bit too intellectual for me, then again I was probably hung over most of the time.

Ally said...

Ella: I would agree that Keller's style doesn't lend itself to hang overs:)

Dr. RJJ: VERY funny.

cdp: I love homemade/adapted cards! Very creative and fun. Carter did something similar for Easter. And yes his stock rose in my book too:)

Kimberly said...

GWhat a great and incredibly thoughtful gift. It's amazing that you made that comment right before he gave you that book - that makes it even better!

This is so cheesy but I think Mark is daily the best gift i could ever ask for in a million little ways. Last night I was worrying about something and asked him to pray about it - thinking that he would just pray about it sometime, not right then - but he said, "Okay" and just prayed for me right then and there. That was such an amazing gift and humbling at the same time.

Anonymous said...

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Clearlykels said...

sooo incredibly thoughtful. That's wonderful.

A butter dish. It matched my set. I've wanted it forever, but couldn't see spending the money on it. I asked my brother for it. He was really reluctant as you can imagine a 20 year old boy would be. However, he bought it for me anyway. I love it.

Kathryn Thomas said...

best gift thus far in the new year would have to be a postcard. for our first date, he made a postcard with a photo of us that had the invitation to dinner and 'kite runner' playing at the old, historic theatre in town - which is completely my personality. on top of that, i collect postcards - as you know! - which i don't believe he knows, yet which made it all the more meaningful. it's the small things that count, yes?

nicely done, carter. that is an incredible gift, ally.