10 Inspiring Gifts for Preachers (2019 Edition)
Photo by DiEtte Henderson on Unsplash
Each year, I collect my top ten suggestions for Christmas gifts for preachers.
That way, when folks ask what you want for Christmas, you can forward them this list, already curated to meet the demands of the preaching life.
This year, however, the list is better than ever.
Why?
Because several of these suggestions were offered by members of our online Backstory Preaching community, The Collective. They’re a group of preachers just like you, and they’re a wealth of insight and fun!
Some suggestions are serious, some uber-practical, and some, of course, are just for kicks. All, however, are great for preachers!
(And none are sponsored, though we receive a small percentage of purchases through Amazon. These are ideas we genuinely love!).
So here you go:
The BsP Collective’s Top Ten Christmas Gifts* for Preachers (2019 Edition)!
Ho-ho-ho!
1. Journaling Materials
One suggestion was offered several times by members: great journaling materials.
Notebook/Journal: For example, a Code and Quill Monolith Notebook Premium Large-Format Hardcover Notebook for Creatives (7.25" x 10"). With a choice between the left-hand page printed with dots for bullet journaling, or both left and right pages lined, writing on the book’s extra heavyweight paper will feel downright decadent! (Amazon, $24.88)
Pens: To journal well, you gotta have great pens too! My hands-down favorite continue to be PILOT FriXion Erasable pens. With a variety of colors and refillable cartridges, preachers can easily edit their calendar and sermon drafts. This is the only suggestion repeated from last year’s list because I love ‘em! (Amazon, pack of seven different colors, $13.88)
2. The Jewish Annotated New Testament by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Bretler, eds. 2nd Ed.
I could describe this resource, but I don’t really have anything to add to three little words that tell you everything you need to know:
Amy. Jill. Levine.
You’re sure to return to it time and again.
(Amazon, $28.42)
3. Jigsaw Puzzles
Some families have traditions of putting together a new puzzle every holiday.
Some families have members who don’t allow other hands to touch a single piece of their new Christmas puzzles (more specifically, mothers—but I wouldn’t know anything about that!)
No matter which category you might fall into, here are three puzzles that caught my eye plus a helper for the serious puzzle-meisters among us.
First, for the preacher who contains the powerhouse combination of dog lover and jigsaw puzzle love, an Agirlgle, 1000-piece Dog Jigsaw Puzzle. (Amazon, $18.96)
Next, for the preacher who dreams about putting together a jigsaw puzzle in the ultimate home library, this Ingooood 1000-piece puzzle is sure to inspire: . (Amazon, $25.99)
If you’re living into those twelve days of Christmas, you can’t go wrong with an army of nutcrackers: Springbok Puzzles - Nutcracker Collection, 1000-Pieces (Amazon, $16.58)
Finally, if you need your dining room table for Christmas dinner instead of the puzzle but you just can’t wait, here’s a “Bits and Pieces - Puzzle Expert Tabletop Easel - Non-Slip Felt Work Surface Puzzle Table Accessory to Put Together Your Jigsaws.” Great idea! Amazon, ($129.88)
4. Don’t Let Those Perfect Sermon Ideas Go Down the Drain!
When I first heard about this I didn’t believe it. But after being assured by the referrer and doing a little digging about the reviews, this is worth giving a try: an Aqua Notes Water Proof Note Pad! It’s a waterproof notepad!
From the manufacturer: “Helps you capture and preserve your ideas before they're forgotten. Provides a way to use the shower to organize your thoughts. Unleash your creative and fun side in the shower by using AquaNotes® to draw, sketch, or doodle in the shower.”
At just $9.50 from Amazon, and (as of this writing) having received 634, 4.5-star ratings, if you do some of your deepest thinking in the shower, don’t give this item another think, so you can keep thinking without forgetting!
5. Towards Better Word-Crafting
You can learn to better craft your words with passion, precision, and punch by reading excellent writing. (Do you think that sentence needs more wood-shedding? That perhaps I might need to be sure this book is on my own list this year?)
Sermons are essentially micro-short stories, so it’s a great idea to get better at your sermon craft by diving into the best-of-the-best short stories.
Consider The Best American Short Stories 2019, edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Doerr.
From the description:
The year’s best stories are a diverse, addictive group exploring everything from America’s rich rural culture to its online teen culture to the fragile nature of the therapist-client relationship. This astonishing collection brings together the realistic and dystopic, humor and terror….
The Best American Short Stories 2019 includes Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Jamel Brinkley, Jeffrey Eugenides, Ursula K. Le Guin, Manuel Muñoz, Sigrid Nunez, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Jim Shepherd, Weike Wang, and others.
(Amazon, $11.89)
6. Gift Certificates—of course!
Many Collective members offered great ideas for gift certificates you might ask for:
local coffee and tea shops
babysitting
spiritual direction
massage
locally-owned restaurants
time at the beach
7. Short-Bite Reading
Image from Ruminate website.
Want to read but don’t have a lot of time? Magazine articles might be just the right length to learn something new or help you relax. Four suggestions that made the list:
Ruminate (a take-a-deep-breath magazine of poetry, literature, and art)
Of course, look for your own favorite hobby or niche magazine, too? (Fiddler Magazine, anyone?)
8. Enhance Your Prayer Life
Yet another terrific suggestion from a Collective member.
Icons are an ancient prayer aid.
If you’re not familiar with praying with icons, here’s a far-too-brief explanation about their purpose in prayer from Spirituality & Practice:
“Because icons are physical objects, they serve as invitations to keep our eyes open when we pray. While prayer may often be, in Thomas Merton's words, "like a face-to-face meeting in the dark," cutting a major link with the physical world by closing your eyes is not a precondition of prayer. Icons help solve a very simple problem: If I am to pray with open eyes, what should I be looking at? It doesn't have to be icons, but icons are a good and helpful choice. They serve as bridges to Christ, as links with the saints, as reminders of pivotal events in the history of salvation.”
One great source for reproductions of icons is The Printery House. They have icons already mounted on wood or on paper ready to be framed.
Beginning at $13.95, your biggest problem will be finding the one that speaks to you most.
9. Lap Desk for Laptops
If you’re like me, you’re dependent on your laptop computer.
The heat they can generate on your lap, however, is too uncomfortable to be tolerated for long. Moreover, the heat build-up shortens the life of the computer, which isn’t great stewardship.
I’ve tried a gazillion lap desks to solve this problem, but there’s a new one (to me) that looks like the best of the best: the iSkelter Lap Desk for laptops.
From the manufacturer:
“Slate protects your laptop from heat and makes the perfect ergonomic workspace. Use your laptop, phone, and tablet all day in comfort. Rest the Slate Mobile LapDesk on your lap, table and desk, or on your bed. It’s a spacious, multi-device lapdesk creating a comfortable, mobile experience.”
Though I haven’t tried it personally yet, it’s recommended highly by one of my business-with-ethics heroes, Michael Hyatt, and I have yet to be steered wrong by him.
At $49.99, this one is absolutely on my list this year.
10. Adjustable Standing Desk (A Practical Gift that’s Also Sublime)
My last suggestion is terribly practical, which is why I bought mine.
What I didn’t know when I bought it, was that it would also be sublime.
I was sitting at my desk so much my tailbone was in agony. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I bought a series of “fixes” in facsimiles of standing desks that created as many problems as they solved.
For example, if you’re thinking about getting a work stand with fold-out legs you can prop on top of your desk, the problem I found was the ergonomics of my wrists. The table-top version wasn’t adjustable so that my wrists weren’t cocked at an angle that would cause carpal-tunnel syndrome.
Long-story short, I finally did what I should have done from the beginning: I bought an adjustable-height standing desk and I love it!
While it did do the practical trick I expected—relieve my tail bone pain—it added that unexpected sublime element: how much better ALL of me felt!
More energy. More focus. Happier affect!
I had no idea!
Now that I know, I’m never going back!
I did a ton of research until I settled on the one pictured here, the exact model I bought from Uplift Desk. It’s 60 x 30 with a white laminate top that’s cheerful and easy to clean. At $668.00, with a much happier tailbone and daily work life, it’s a steal.
*All Amazon products are affiliate links (but none of the others). We only recommend products we truly believe in.
You don’t have to wait for these crowd-sourced blog posts for great ideas!
The BsP Collective/+ is comprised of preachers who are living the ups and downs of the preaching life every week, just like you. And in this community, they have access to a wealth of resources and perspectives in each other!
If your preaching life is feeling draining, lonely, or uninspired, come check out The Collective. You’ll find a trove of riches in like-minded colleagues.
The practical, easy-to-implement tools for writing better sermons faster are the bonus.