Merry Christmas !!!

It's Christmas Day!  

Remember what it was like to run through the cold, dark house on Christmas morning to see what was under the tree?  I don't think we ever left out cookies and milk or carrots like some folks do ...

Every one has different traditions.  

My Mom would cover the trees in candy canes after we had all gone to sleep.  I remember those trees full of lights and covered in candy canes more than all the gifts and all the bows ... I think of it still, every time I see a box of candy canes!  

I never got to see her do it, but I always suspected she did because they were placed with the same care as each strand of tinsel ... Were you a one strand at a time person or a throw four or five at the tree kind of person?  (laughing)  

Did you like colored lights or white lights?  I liked colored lights!  My tree this year is white lights with lots of snowflakes and cardinals, but in my bedroom, I have a snowy garland draped above the curtain rod and it has colored lights. 

Magic! 

Sometimes, I play quiet Christmas Music and sleep under the colored lights in my room ... and remember the old Christmas Movies ... the little brown sacks of peanuts and chocolate drops and always one apple that they used to hand out to us kids at church ... our youth group Christmas Caroling through the streets, stopping at houses along the way ... helping wrap presents in the stores for one group or another ... I grew up in Minnesota so there was LOTS of snow, but Christmas was always warm mittens and scarves and boots, hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows and fireplaces with homemade stockings and the smell of pines and cookies baking ...

Miracles!  

The memories then were enough to carry me through a lifetime of Christmases!  My wish is that I pass along those memories and the love that came with them to my children and their children, and if I am really blessed, to their children's children!  

Merry Christmas, My Dear, Dear Friend!

 

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: 'How could it be so?'
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!
And he puzzled three hours, 'till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas ... perhaps ... means a little bit more!

Dr. Seuss, 1904-1991

 

Deep down inside we know
that the best gifts
don't come from catalogs
or shopping malls
They don't come in brightly-colored packages
or fancy envelopes
and they're not sitting under a tree somewhere ...
The best gifts come from the heart.
They come when we look at each other
REALLY look at each other
and say 'You mean a lot to me'
or 'I'm so glad you're a part of my life'
A gift like that
will never go out of style
or be forgotten
or be returned for a different size.
A gift like that can change the world.
Wherever you may be this Christmas and whatever your customs might be, I wish you the peace, love and magic of this very special day ...

I'll also leave you with a challenge this week ... to think of one person in your life who may be in need of some appreciation or encouragement. Then, simply do whatever your heart suggests needs to be done ...

Ron Atchison ~ Inspiration Peak

 

“The Christmas Envelope” 
      Author Unknown                                                      

It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas -- oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing that he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.

As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly. "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."

Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached youth league football, baseball, and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church.

On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year, and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, their toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure.

The story doesn't end there.

You see, we lost Mike last year to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown, and someday will expand even further, with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation, watching as their fathers take down the envelope.

Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit, this year and always. 

 

Blessings to you and Hugs All Around!            
        Magic & Miracles & Meaning for us all!                 
                Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!