That ONE special Christmas gift that left me so disappointed....

What did you get for Christmas? What was that ONE gift that you really wanted and deep down inside, your heart skipped a beat when you unwrapped it on Christmas morning?

All I wanted for Christmas was one small item, something that I felt would enhance my life and make it more meaningful and worthwhile. I'm talking about a tablet--a 9.7 inch wonder that you can hold in your hands or place on your lap and surf the net, or watch movies or read a book.

Now I'm not going to tell you what brand of tablet I received, but suffice to say, it's NOT an iPad 2. Why? Because the iPad 2 is  1) too expensive; 2) too proprietary; 3) I'm still not ready to join the Apple cult (even though I greatly admire Steve Jobs and have his book on my list of "must reads.").

Also, I did NOT get a Kindle Fire which measures 7" and relies on cloud storage which, if you don't know what I'm talking about, I won't bother to explain. For the time being, I prefer to remain "cloudless"--not a cloud in the sky or among my computers.

Here's what I like about my tablet, aside from brilliant high-def images and movies, I love all the apps that are available in the Google store. Apps for Pandora, ESPN, NFL, watching your favorite TV shows. There are apps for checking your caloric intake, dictionary, lie detector, survival manual, Super Mario Bros, Pac-Man, Sims, Pin Ball, and of course, Angry Birds...the list goes on and on.


But, with all this, I'm somewhat disappointed.      

I was hoping to find an app that exercises for me; or one that goes to work for me; or goes on a diet for me and instantly drops 50 lbs off  my body weight? What about an app that will give me legal representation in court; or an app that will help me find the perfect gift for my wife; or an app that will input a lifetime of Bible study into my brain (how cool would that be?). I've always wanted to run a triathlon, but can't find a single app that does the swimming, biking and running for me.

As much as I love my tablet, it can only do so much. In the end, I realize that I still have to go to the gym and put in all that sweat & pain to exercise 4 or 5x a week, and if I'm ever going to get a handle on the Bible, it will be up to me to apply due diligence to regular study and meditation of the Word.

Finally, if my wife is going to get that perfect gift, I will have to pray and ask for wisdom from the Lord, or ask her what she really wants. I haven't found an app that will do this either. And I haven't found an app that will pray to the Lord, or worship and praise the Lord. If this is going to happen, I will have to do it MYSELF, and that's the way God designed it. He purposely created us so that everything that's really meaningful in our lives has to be done in real-time by you and me, and we can't take a shortcut with apps, or text messages or tweets. We have to have to put in time, effort, sweat and energy to get what's really meaningful out of life. Like the saying, "No pain, no gain." That about sums it up. No apps have been created to endure pain or suffering. That's part of our humanness and that's also what makes us special.

What about you? What was the gift you received this Christmas that put a smile on your face? Leave a comment.