Everyone has a wishlist for Christmas.  It's time to dig into what we really hope and pray will be "under the tree".

I don't have a lot of wants.  Every year when my wife asks me what I would like for Christmas it will likely comes down to a new pair of pyjamas or perhaps a favourite chocolate bar but that sums it up.  As a father of young children it is hard to find time to want anything that isn't related to what I do as a dad and husband.  But that doesn't mean I don't have a wishlist.

So, at this time of the year I think through the things that I really want, what I think I really need and I put them on my Christmas wishlist praying that they are things that align with what God wants for me year round.

Here is my "father wishlist" in no particular order:

I long to know God more deeply.  My heart aches to know God.  Do you know the feeling of wanting to be closer to someone even when you are holding them tightly?  I feel that with Jesus (and I don't want to lose it).  I just want to know Him completely.  I want to experience the joys that come from knowing God as Moses did in his mountain top experiences, even with the pain and struggle that come with it.

I desire purpose and meaning.  Honestly I need reminders more than something new and exciting.  It would seem that I am as human as everyone else and can't remember how God wants to shape and form me sometimes.  I pray for reminders of the purpose and meaning that he has given me.

I want my wife to experience more of God.  I can't tell you how many times in my marriage I have been in awe of the grace and love that is made visible through my wife's walk with Jesus and the joy it brings her is incredible.  I want her to experience that even more and maybe God will help me keep up.

My heart wants nothing more than for my sons to know a Father that shapes them into His men.  I know I am not the end all and be all and I desire my sons to see God as the Father that perfectly loves them, shapes them, and disciples them.  And if I can be deeply involved in the process it would bring me no greater joy.

I want God's story to be mine.  In a nutshell, my prayer is to be inline with God's will.  I want to be conformed to His passions and His heart.

Finally...A Starbucks Gift Card.  Everyone needs coffee and a place to write 😃.

What's on your Christmas wishlist?