In one week it will all be over. All the neat little boxes and perfect packaging that each gift came in will be strewn about. The living room floor will be knee deep in boxes, tissue, wrapping paper and packing material. That’s the problem with packaging, you can’t get at the gift, you can’t get at what something truly is, without breaking through it.
Packaging, branding, we’re all experts at it. We all package ourselves somehow. We package our family or ourselves as individuals. Are you “the couple with the nice house” or “the family who clothes always match” or the “one who’s always making a joke” or the “lady with the cleanest house” or the “family who’s great at sports”?
There is this image that we have all decided we want to project. The best behaved kids. The perfect churchy family. What is it for you? How far will you go to protect your brand? The problem with packaging is no one can really see, taste, or touch who you actually are. They only see the shiny plastic you have surrounded yourself with and the tantalizing description printed on the outside. Community, fellowship, family, transparency – none of this can happen through your fancy packaging. We are not called to do this life on our own. You’ve got to be willing to open up, show us who you really are. Show us who God designed you to be before your personal marketing department got hold of you.
As you pick up all the left over packaging and toss it in the trash, ask yourself if there are any extra layers that you keep around yourself that could be tossed out today, too.
Leah by the Lake 