I had been scouring the mall and shops for over a month, looking for the perfect baby doll. You see, my nine-year-old granddaughter, Annabel, was coming for Christmas. Time and time again, I came home disappointed, as I was looking for just the right doll. I grumbled to my husband that they just don’t make cute baby dolls anymore.

Annabel and her Mom and Dad arrived three days before Christmas. I took her down to our family room where like most grandparents, there was a whole section dedicated to toys for the grandkids. I pointed out the Thumbelina doll sitting on a shelf. Her eyes lit up, and she latched on to that doll—my doll. You see, my husband gave her to me years ago. She was an original Thumbelina doll from the 1960s. I had one just like her when I was a little girl. My husband found her on eBay and gave it to me for Christmas one year.

Annabel brought a little elf with her whom she called Snowflake. She took me into the bedroom where she was staying and showed me a note she had written to Snowflake. The note said, “I want a Thumbelina doll just like my Grandma has.” Tears welled in my eyes, and I knew what I had to do. You guessed it; I was giving Annabel my doll. The answer to my search was there all along, right under my nose. This doll, the one I loved and cherished from a Christmas long ago, was going to my granddaughter. Now she would be loved and cherished by Annable. It was an easy decision I made on Christmas Eve day. We whisked the doll away from her that night, which was hard to do because she took that doll everywhere—including to bed. 

Christmas morning, she saw the doll under the tree. She was overjoyed and promised me she would take good care of her. I couldn’t help but think about the correlation between this small sacrifice of mine, giving up my cherished doll, and God giving us His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Matthew 3:17 says, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” It was pleasing to our Heavenly Father to give us his only Son. It was pleasing to my heart to gift the doll to Annabel.

I put the Nativity set under the Christmas tree to remind us of the best Christmas gift ever, Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. What agony that must have been to give His only Son as a sacrifice for all sins of the world. My sacrifice was nothing compared to what Christ did for me on the cross.

The new year is approaching quickly. Some are relieved a new year is coming. Some enter the new year with heavy but hopeful hearts. Maybe it’s a chronic illness that plagues you, a difficult diagnosis, the pain of grief, or a broken relationship that doesn’t seem to heal. Maybe your year was filled with joy and happiness. Whatever the circumstances, we have a solid rock to stand on. God’s promises never change or become obsolete, even though our lives take unexpected twists and turns. 

“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23. 

Christmas comes and goes; one year slips into another. Like our granddaughter Annabel longed and hoped for a Thumbelina, her grandmother’s, we long for and look forward to Jesus Christ’s return and our heavenly home.

Sometimes the best gift of all is right under our noses. It’s been there all along. As Christians, we have that sure and glorious hope of His coming. We need to remember Jesus, God’s Son, is the best gift of all!