Now this is how to receive a gift

Over the holidays, Vox Day presented helpful insights on giving gifts to women.

A significant amount of male stress over the Christmas season can be eliminated by keeping in mind one simple fact: women do not feel gratitude in the same way men do.  This is why they so often receive gifts in a manner that men find irritatingly ungrateful.

 I know I've selfishly put pressure on RLB in the past on the manner in which he buys gifts for me. I would get angry if he hadn't planned ahead to get me something and went off to the store the day of my birthday or the day of any particular holiday. When he did perform perfectly, I didn't respond with the gratitude that you'd think I would considering he'd done everything right.

My previous entitled attitude has changed. Every dime I spend is his money. I have an appreciation for everything I am able to purchase because it comes from his provision. Holidays and birthdays are no more special to me anymore than the average day that I am able to make even the simplest of purchases. I have a grateful heart, now, for everything he provides.

I had been attempting to take pictures with my phone of my daughter blowing out her candles on her birthday and was frustrated with every shot being blurry. RLB decided I would get a new camera for my birthday. His back injury was bothering him quite a bit so going to the store himself was not going to happen. Instead I went to the store while he researched online for the right camera and we communicated via cell phone about which one I should choose. I am very grateful for my new camera. And have no disappointment at all of the manner in which I received it. I've found this to be another huge blessing of biblical submission. There is no more disappointment because there is no more expectation/entitlement.

Though every purchase I make is from RLB's money, he remains a very grateful gift receiver. I captured, on video, his reaction to receiving a gift for his Officer Candidate School graduation. I'll tell you the back story about it first.

Remember that little car he owned when I first met him? It was an '88 Mazda RX7 convertible. He loved that car. I loved that car. It was so much fun. It started to have engine troubles a couple months before our wedding. He thought it was a compression issue. The driveway for my apartment complex thankfully had enough of a slope so he could push the car and I could pop the clutch. After doing this several times he knew it was time to trade it in and pray for it to start right up at the dealership. I'd known since then if there were any car he could own again, it would be another RX7, but I also knew he would never buy it for himself. 

OCS was in Fort Benning, Georgia. Since I do not work outside the home and our children are homeschooled, we were all able to join him there. It was a temporary move, so we opted to rough it. We rented a camper on the Post's campgrounds and camped for five months.

We met a guy staying there whose wife was in RLB's class. One day he stopped by our campsite and showed me the gift he was buying for his wife; an old, restored Corvette. That got me thinking. I asked if he'd help me find an RX7 in the area.  A week later I was driving up to Atlanta with some other friends of ours you'll see in the video. On our way to pick up the most beautiful, pristine, '91 RX7 Convertible.

When we traded in the old RX7, we realized we had left our Gin Blossoms disk in the CD player. So, for an added touch I purchased a new one and had it in the new RX7.

As the video starts, you'll see RLB doing what he did every weekend he had a pass from OCS. We'd sit by the campfire until the early morning hours. A much needed reprieve for him from training all week. His reaction is priceless. Clearly showing that this guy knows how to receive a gift. Enjoy: