All4one Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 What are some of the best gifts you've received as a family? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Gift certificates for supper... With an offer of babysitting. Someone paid to have my popcorn ceilings freshly sprayed with paint. Our church sent my husband to an advance training and support program that has helped his counseling skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Gift certificates are a big winner!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Some were for our whole family and some for just dh and me. A couple from Sweden let us use their house on Svartso in the Swedish archipelago for a week for our 20th anniv, and a friend of our assistant gave us the use of a beautiful condo in California for our 25th. We have been given circus tickets, Ice tickets, and other shows throughout the years. Lots of food gifts at the holidays--some dear lady always gets us a Honeybaked ham, someone buys us steaks, and of course there's cookies and pastries and that sort of stuff. People around here are so generous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tagglelim Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Food, tickets to shows, and LOTS of clothes for the girls. Folks are so generous! A couple of years ago, our car died and we had no money to buy a new one. One week later, a family pretty much gave us a minivan. So, so generous! We are very thankful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Gift cards to restaurants close to the church. This is very helpful because we are often famished on Sunday once we've waited for everyone to leave and have locked up. It is helpful to be able to go to a local restaurant but it gets pretty spendy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Cash for a short-term mission trip. Appreciative notes with whatever gift they give. Gift certificates to restaurants. Usually it is not quite enough for dh and myself, but we have been given enough to take the whole family to a restaurant or a movie. These are the best. It's great for the kids to see people being so generous and thoughtful. I have friends who have a standing offer of use of a lake home for family or couple getaways. I have heard of some being offered the use of a timeshare. What a blessing to be able to share in this way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 anything useful. Gift cards, money, food. those types of things. Over the years we have received so many "things" to sit around...some go along with our style and taste most not so much. The people all mean well and we greatly apprecaite all forms of appreciation given us. But for us, I LOVE gift cards to our local grocery store, or some extra money to do something special with the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 my husband is not a senior pastor but a worship pastor. at the churches he's served, we've received such lovely gifts. members have given us cash, gift cards (ranging from restaurants to visa gift cards to movie theaters), baskets of goodies, and this year for christmas we received a night at a bed & breakfast! we are so excited! we still haven't used it, but now that easter is over i'm going to make the reservation!:) probably one of the nicest gifts we've ever received was when we left our previous church in charlotte and moved here to FL. the pastor there invited both of us on stage (which i'm like a fish out of water up there) but they had made a video of our 5 years there with them. they also collected money and gave it to us as a going away gift. lastly, they framed a beautiful picture collage of memories of our time there. i was bawling. it was so nice! we felt SO loved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 anything useful. Gift cards, money, food. those types of things. Over the years we have received so many "things" to sit around...some go along with our style and taste most not so much. The people all mean well and we greatly apprecaite all forms of appreciation given us. But for us, I LOVE gift cards to our local grocery store, or some extra money to do something special with the kids. :iagree: We have SO many "things" and really don't need more. I was going to say cold hard cash, but that does seem impersonal. But, really? It's SO appreciated. We have a couple in our church who gives us a card every year before our vacation with $50 inside. It sure comes in handy! Gift certificates are also appreciated. One woman always asks what our favorite family restaurant is and gets us a certificate. We've also been given vacation weeks at people's houses. LOVE those! Tickets to shows and sporting events. But those are few and far between. My dh is laughing in the background saying that whatever you do, don't buy him another angel statue! LOL In one of our churches, the ladies all thought he needed an office full of them. He didn't. Really. He appreciated the thought, but really, his office looked so cluttered!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine.more Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Gift certificates are ideal I think. Some people try to give us tickets to things but we never are able to use them because DH works a lot (you'd think his congregation would know that) and works most evenings especially so then we always end up feeling guilty we didn't use them. ITA with previous posters that we definitely do not need more stuff. No crosses, no angel statues or corny plaques with bible verses, lol! DH always appreciates the thought and feels obligated to keep everything he is given, so things can get cluttered pretty quickly :) And I'd say no to food. Most pastors struggle to keep their waistline in check (desk job, lots of nice old church ladies bringing them baked goods every day) and I find it's not uncommon for them to be on a diet or at least trying to watch their eating habits. It's appreciated, and will get eaten, but long-term can add up to lots of pounds over the years, lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mims Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Weekends away and babysitting when the kids were younger. Agree with the others - no 'stuff' and tickets for events can be hard to use because we cherish our little time at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 And I'd say no to food. Most pastors struggle to keep their waistline in check (desk job, lots of nice old church ladies bringing them baked goods every day) and I find it's not uncommon for them to be on a diet or at least trying to watch their eating habits. It's appreciated, and will get eaten, but long-term can add up to lots of pounds over the years, lol! when I mentioned food as a good option, I guess I was thinking about our situation. We live in the middle of farm country and we are blessed with congregation members who give us a side of beef, or quarter pig, or veggies from their gardens in the fall. All stuff we would normally have to buy...I wasn't thinking baked goods, snacky foods and the like. Sorry, I didn't make that clear...it was clear in my brain as I was typing....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All4one Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 Thank you for your thoughts. I was thinking gift cards because I love getting gift cards but then I began to doubt myself. I was afraid it would be too impersonal. Our pastor's family is beyond the babysitting age so that's a no-go. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Gift cards to restaurants close to the church. This is very helpful because we are often famished on Sunday once we've waited for everyone to leave and have locked up. It is helpful to be able to go to a local restaurant but it gets pretty spendy. :iagree:This is so true! We are usually the last one to leave one Sunday as well, so gift cards to restaurants are awesome! I also get such joy giving to others too! I remember one year for Thanksgiving I baked pies for the older ladies in our church. They loved it, and it felt better than receiving something myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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