Three days before the first big winter storm hit, the phone rang. It was "Odie," the local plumber, volunteering to come over and do some work. He offered to drain out the hot water tanks and outside pipes ahead of the blast of arctic air headed our way. "Odie" wasn't trying to drum up any business for himself. In fact, if all our pipes burst he would make a lot of money repairing the damages. He was simply thinking of others and offering the gift of his unique talents to help out a family with a man with no handy-man skills.

Odie's phone call has been the best Christmas "gift" idea we've heard so far this year. What, you say? I've never seen a "Phone Call from Plumber" listed in a Christmas catalogue as a gift idea. Let me explain.

Retailers of all sorts are frantically slashing prices on their merchandise to entice consumers to buy more stuff, to get more goodies. Here are some past sample ads collected during one week leading up to Christmas:

*Wal-Mart wants us to buy more so we will "live better." (Unless, of course, we get trampled to death buying more).

*A TV commercial Mom says she wants to see her kids doing the "present dance"—hyper children ripping and tearing and prancing around piles and piles of dismembered packages.

*Sears proclaims our purchases will fulfill all the "dreams" of others.

*A television commercial promises: "Change your TV . .. Change your life."

But has it ever struck you as odd that we celebrate Jesus' birthday by giving presents to ourselves? If it's Jesus' birthday, why isn't he getting the presents? Isn't the one who is celebrating the birthday the one who is supposed to get the gifts?

Maybe we change that rule at Christmas because we don't want to have to think about what kind of presents Jesus would like. What would most please Jesus to get for Christmas?