I thought about calling this my grown-up Christmas list, but for that to work, I’d have to feel grown-up. Most of the time, I still feel like a 10-year old stuck in a 30-something year old body, a la Tom Hanks in the movie Big. So that bit of nonsense is to lead in to the fact that I do have a Christmas list for 2011.

Instead of tolerance, I want love. I want all people to know that they are loved. God loves all those He made and His love makes you loveable, even if nothing you do or say does. That love makes you valuable, even if you don’t have worth or value according to the current standards that weigh everything by money and power.

I want more forgiveness and second chances. Not just for the ones who are in the wrong. The ones forgiving find such freedom in the act that they will wonder why they didn’t do it sooner. Forgiveness is hard, but I think not forgiving and holding onto the bitterness that eats you alive is harder. It certainly takes more out of you.

I want people to look past the surface more and see real beauty. God is the master of wrapping the best presents in homely packages. True beauty is seen with the heart and not with the eyes.

I want people to get out of their comfort zones and cliques and go to those who are lonely and hurting this Christmas season. If God has a special place in His heart for the outcast, broken, needy, poor, and destitute, then why shouldn’t we. If we want to be like Christ, we will have that same heart He has. After all, we all were once broken and needy and poor and destitute.

I want it to be that if there is to be any finger-pointing, it should be into a mirror. We all are to blame for the mess the world is in and the sooner we say, “I am responsible,” the better. Then we can say truthfully, “I am only one person. I can’t undo all the wrong that’s been done, but I can do one right thing. I can’t change the world, but I can change one person’s world, and, by the grace of God, I will.”

Most of all, I really want people to see themselves as God sees them. I want to see that God loves them. I want them to understand that God likes them. I want them to know that God offers healing and freedom and ultimate forgiveness for sins. I want them to see that it’s never too late to turn around and be all that God made you to be.

That’s really all I want for Christmas.

That, and maybe a set of Ginzu knifes, ’cause they can cut through tin cans and still slice a tomato. That’s just sheer awesomeness!