Gifts
We got a package in the mail yesterday - a little post wedding gift.
It is a hardbound book, a little smaller than a high school yearbook. It says “To Have an To Hold - A newlywed keepsake - The Tennis Family” on the front.
I open it up.
Amongst other things, inside is a card:
“Dear Friends - In recognizing the joy and meaningfulness of married life, a group of thoughtful business and professional people have chosen to present you with a beautiful personalized book entitled To Have and To Hold. Your personal keepsake volume is richly bound with an exquisite gold stamped cover. Inside you will find a special section for keeping a record of your family, esays on the true meaning of married life and a section entitled The Greatest Gift, presenting key events in the life of Jesus….blah blah
The names of those who are making this lovely volume available appear in the front of your book. There are no strings attached and these fine people really do want to support you as you build together a strong married life. Please let the sponsors know you have received their thoughtful gift. We have provided special cards to amke it convenient for you to express your thanks directly to these thoughtful people.
So which of my great friends got us this gift?
“Brands Home Furnishings”
“Grand Rental Station”
“Bloomers Floral and Gifts”
“First Mortgage”
“Courtyard by Marriott”
Thanks good friends!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the thought. But I’m not going to take the time to write a thank you to a business who really is just doing a little advertising. There’s a return comment card that yo u can send back to “Family Business Services”, the makers of the book. one of the checkboxes is:
“Would you support a business who participates in a program like this?”
I suppose I now should base my decisions on which business to support based on whether or not they send out books about Jesus to newly married couples.
Anyway, the book itself is nice. It’s got about 10 pages to write things in it, like our family trees and letters we want to write to our future children. Then the rest of the book is basically something you’d read in Sunday School.
My conclusion: the book is going in the trach.