Seeing as how weāve just crossed the threshold of a new year, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you a storyāa Christmas storyāabout how I originally received my main acoustic guitar, a Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe, seven Christmases ago.
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I'll Have a Breedlove Christmas
Taken from my Lagoon Blue Ecosystems journal, December 20, 2014
To watch the entire "A Breedlove Christmas" series click here.
Something HUGE has happened this week. A former student of mine texted me and asked what my plans were for yesterday. I gave him the rundownāI had a couple of guitar lessons to teach, after which I would be free until 5:30 p.m.āthen asked āWhatās up?ā
āWanted to bring by some Christmas cheer!ā he texted back.
So I offered to have lunch together, intending to treat him to a complimentary meal, but when lunch time came around, he had some errands heād forgotten about and said that heād swing by my place later. After a few time delays, he was able to make it around 4:45 p.m.
And spread some Christmas cheer he did!
I opened the door when I saw him pull into the driveway, get out of his car, and make his way up the concrete path to the front door. I noticed he had a guitar case in his hand. I recognized it from the previous few lessons he had been bringing it along.
He had purchased it on a recommendation from me after I had recently returned from vacation with my wife. While on our trip, we had visited a music store where I had taken several guitars for a test drive. One particular brand, make, and modelāthe same one heād boughtācame in at first place on my personal list out of the three main ones I had played. (See video below.)
My Test-Drive of the Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe
Spreading Christmas Cheer
āI came by to give you this,ā he said before I could say anything more than hello. āMerry Christmas.ā He extended his arm and handed me the guitar case.
āWhat do you mean?ā I asked, wanting to make sure Iād heard him correctlyābut probably more so wanting to make sure heād heard himself correctly.
āItās yours,ā was his reply.
The weird thing about all this was that, from the moment Iād received his text, I had a strong feeling this was what his āChristmas cheerā would be about. Call me crazy, but itās true.
Even so, I was speechless.
I placed the case on the living room floor and clicked open the shiny new latches (six in all). I then gently opened the case, knowing what it had to be. It was a guitar, obviously, but I knew the exact guitar heād brought me. As I opened the case lid fully, I saw it was indeed the Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe Custom Series guitar Iād imagined.
I myself had been trying to save up for this very guitar for a while, but it was looking like it would be years before I could afford it. My student had mentioned that he wasnāt very impressed with it. He had several high-dollar guitars already in his collection, including a few Taylors and a custom Sweetwater edition Martin HD-28.
I assumed heād sold it, so I had written off any chance of owning it myself. Heād offered it to me before in exchange for guitar lessons, but it would be 3ā4 years of free lessons before I could even come close to paying it off, so I passed on the deal, as much as I hated to.
Now, this very guitarāwith an MSRP of $3,999ālay in my living room in near mint condition, and he had just said it was MINE!!! What I didnāt realize until a little later, after seeing the end strap button had an input jack, was that it included a top-of-the-line L. R. Baggs Dual Element pickup, complete with a condenser mic and saddle pickup.



My Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe Specs Soundhole Sticker Specs
I kept hearing myself say āAre you sure?ā and āReally?ā until his answers finally convinced me he was indeed sure and that, yes, this really was happening. He hinted amusingly that he wouldnāt mind getting a complimentary copy of my Bluegrass Guitar Essentials course when it came out on DVD a couple of months later. I totally agreed that heād get one of the first copies. [Which I later made good on. That, and a few other courses along the way. A small price to pay, as far as Iām concerned.]
Now, as I sit here in the living room writing this, having already filmed it in a couple of videos to be released on my YouTube channel soon [see the video at the top of this post], my new Breedlove Revival DR-Deluxe sits upright in its case, directly in front of me, in all its splendor.
I think the most shocking thing about all this is that I wasnāt jumping up and down and running around the house for joy. I donāt know if Iād call it shock or not, but I think itās because it really didnāt come as a surprise to me. I knew somehow that this was just what he meant by stopping by to bring me some āChristmas cheer.ā I just knew.
I still havenāt heard back from Breedlove to see if my artist endorsement with them is official, but I believe I have a better shot at it than before, now that I actually own a Breedlove guitar. [Note: Iāve been an official Breedlove artist ever since!]
The Greatest Gift of All
God has truly been magnificently good to me this year. The scripture that says it all for me is Isaiah 63:7. His loving kindnesses are truly bountiful and abundant. As good as this amazing gift has been, however, Iām glad I still know the true "Reason for the Season."
The greatest gift of all wasnāt wrapped in bows and fancy wrapping paper but in swaddling clothes, placed not under a brightly decorated tree but on a tree, the āOld Rugged Cross.ā Best of all, this gift, salvation, is free to all who will receive it.
Once you pay for something, itās no longer a gift. A gift is the one thing you are required to acquire without payment. A gift must be received. The wonderful thing is that itās already been paid for in full!
Christ gave Himself, the greatest gift of all.

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