Black Friday sales have come and gone. Cyber Monday deals and steals flooded your inbox as the calendar turned to December. The mall is a zoo, and the kids are busy circling favorites in toy catalogs and composing letters to Santa.
There’s no denying it: the holiday shopping season is off and running.
And while there are plenty of hot toys and must-have gadgets and gifts to gawk at in the coming weeks, a church in North Carolina has a timely reminder as we begin the Christmas craze: don’t overlook the gifts right in front of you.
Forest Hill Church in Charlotte, NC created a must-watch video that will remind you of what really matters (spoiler alert: it’s not the latest smartphone or that coveted toy).
In it, we see a man waking up—encased in Christmas wrapping paper. He tears out of the paper and gleefully exclaims, “I’m alive!” From there, we watch as he uncovers a myriad of other gift-wrapped “presents”—including his wife, his children, running water, electricity, clothing, food, and a car to get to work.
Watch the video here:
To date, the video has upwards of 13 million views and has been shared hundreds of thousands of times across social media.
And it’s easy to see why this cute skit is resonating with so many as we enter one of the busiest months of the year, isn’t it? The people and things we so often take for granted are some of God’s greatest gifts to us, and sometimes, we need a little reminder to slow down and appreciate them.
The video concludes with a simple message that’s a perfect reminder for us all as the holiday season kicks into high gear: “This Christmas, may you be grateful for all the gifts around you!”
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