It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

If you recall in my last post I mentioned how I try to put special efforts into not being judgemental of others. That effort was put to the test the other day. J.D. received a phone call to inform him that his ex-sister-in-law, Patsy had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. To make a long story short there is no love lost between the two of us and when J.D. relayed the information of the phone call to me, I opened my mouth and a judgemental statement fell right out. As soon as it was spoken, in my mind I was groping wildly to grab those words and stuff them back into my mouth. Of course even if I hadn't said the words, having them in my mind was the same as speaking them. I have done quite a lot of soul searching, forgiveness seeking in the mean time and had some lengthy conversations with my Creator.

The word that J.D. received is that Patsy had a stroke that effected the right side of her brain. She has bleeding in her brain and at this time she is in a coma. I don't know if it is a medically induced coma or not. He has received several updates since the first call and the outcome doesn't look too encouraging for her. Please add Patsy and her family to your list of prayers.

I thought that I needed to do a little decorating here at Moodscapes. The sites and sounds of the season has such a magical effect on most people. It reminds us that this is a time of hope for the future. A time of healing for those that carry emotional hurt and pain. A time to recall the happiness that was experienced in the past with loved ones that have traveled on without us. A time for families to gather together and feel the warmth of love that is radiated from that circle of love. These are all gifts of the Christmas Season that can be treasured for a lifetime. You don't have to worry about any of them not fitting, one size fits all. No problem if two of the gifts are the same, all the more warmth and love to revel in. No worry about outgrowing or wearing out these gifts, they are constructed of extremely stretchy and tough material. There is as much joy in giving as there is in receiving these gifts.

May you be blessed abundantly with the true gifts of the season.

Meaningful Monday

One of the greatest gifts given to us is

THE GIFT OF CHOICE

~LOVE~

We can choose to believe that we are unlovable

because of a past that is clouded by another's

unloving words and actions.

~JOY~

We can choose to suffer the depression

which has followed us into adult life.

We can continue to believe

that every bad thing that has ever

happened to us is our own fault,

merely because we were taught

at an early age that this was true.

~PEACE~

We can choose to constantly struggle

with the memories of abuse

and mistreatment.

~PATIENCE~

We can choose to give up all hope

for a brighter tomorrow because

the journey there takes too long.

~KINDNESS~

We can choose to lash out at others

because of the unkindness we have known.

~GOODNESS~

We can choose to believe that there

is no goodness in the world

and live our lives accordingly.

~FAITHFULNESS~

We can choose to be unfaithful

to those who have put trust in us.

We can choose to justify this by,

believing that trust is always broken.

~GENTLENESS~

We can choose to be forceful,

demanding, and violent because

that is how we were raised.

~SELF-CONTROL~

We can choose to loose control

and strike out at anyone that

gets in the way of all our other choices,

be they right or wrong.

~OR~

We can choose to look at the sunrise

of each new day as a promise.

The promise of new beginnings.

A new beginning that will not

allow the pain and problems of the

past to rule the present.

YOUR DAY

YOUR CHOICE

© 2000 Jo Riley Dupree

I've Been Tagged

Theresa at My Fairbanks Life has tagged me for this meme. It is different from the others that I have seen circulating. So I am anxious to jump on this one and get busy tagging others. So, here goes:

The meme's rules:

1. Go through your archives and link to five of your favourite posts that you have written.

Link one must be a post about family.
Link two must be a post about friends.
Link three must be a post about yourself.
Link four must be a post about something you love.
Link five can be a post about anything you choose.

2. Tag five other people to do this meme. Two of them must be people you want to get to know better.

Family: On The Go Monday

Friends: Frozen Rain Drops

All About Me: One Of Those Days

Something I Love: Dancing In The Rain

My Choice Freeby: The Tax Man Cometh

The Best Part ..... Tag! You're It!

Aisha at Leaf Float Down River

Gene at Turning The Pages Of Life

Kentucky Woman at Little Drops...Into The Pool Of Life

Pea at Pea's Corner

Hope at Second Time Around

Let me know when you post your meme so I can come read it.

Meaningful Monday

We Are All Sisters

There comes a time in every woman's life when she has to take a close look at herself. Not at her circumstance, not at what she did, not how unfair life is, or at who made you do it. She has to just look at herself in all her glory and imperfection. Have you ever admired a woman who has been through changes in her life? Or have you made up in your mind that she is just messed up. Before you make this mistake, take a closer look. A woman who has endured the most unusual life is someone of wisdom, someone who has been chosen by God to go through things that have made her stronger.

Think of all the great women in the Bible: Mary Magdalene, Ruth and Naomi, the woman with an issue of blood, and Esther, to name a few. Mary was a prostitute, a very uneasy woman. But by the time Jesus was done with her, she was His closest follower. Esther was unfortunate in marrying an abusive man, but by the time God was done with her, she had married one of the wealthiest men in the land.

Women are so quick to beat the next one down instead of trying to hold her up. Before you wonder, 'What's up with her?' ask yourself, 'What's up with me?' That woman could be my mother, sister, aunt, mother-in-law, stepmother, niece, grandmother, great-grandmother, daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, neighbor, friend, or co-worker, etc. That woman could be ME.

Women are the carriers of life, not the channels of death. Let's build and encourage each other, as did Ruth and Naomi.

Note from Jo: I am a firm believer that we are all here for a purpose of some sort. That what we go through will in some way benefit others. (I was going to say here 'If we allow it to', but rather we allow it or not, rather we share our experiences or not, they are out there and someone will benefit from what we go through.) With that said, I have always found courage to face the challenges in my life by recalling the words "If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it." Hopefully, as sisters in the Lord we will all encourage and love, forgive and forget. I hope that the women who read this will be touched in some way.

A Brown Bag Christmas

From time to time I receive an e-mail that gives me food for thought or brings tears to my eyes. I opened my inbox to find that special e-mail this morning. I know this has probably been making the rounds, but I think it deserves a special place on my blog because it is something we can all learn from...... Enjoy!


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


When I asked our newlywed Sunday School class to share a favorite Christmas story, Carrie Fuller said, "Our family has one we call the 'brown bag Christmas.'" When she finished, I had to hear more. Two days later, I called a member of her family for more details.

It was the early 1930s during the Dust Bowl days of Kansas, in the heart of the Depression. The Canaday family---Mom, Dad, 7 children---were having a tough time existing, so there would be no luxuries at Christmas that year. Mom told the children to go outside and find a Christmas tree and decorate it. After a lengthy search, they returned with a dead branch, the only thing they had been able to find. They stood it up in a bucket of sand and decorated it with pieces of paper tied with string. Little Judy, almost four, did not know how a Christmas tree was supposed to look, but somehow she knew it was not like that!

As Christmas approached, the Canaday children, like children everywhere, pestered Mom and Dad about what presents they might get under their "tree." Dad pointed out that the pantry was bare, that they did not have enough to live on, and there certainly would be no money for gifts. But Mom was a woman of faith and told her children, "Say your prayers. Ask God to send us what He wants us to have." Dad said, "Now, Mother, don't be getting the children's hopes up. You're just setting them up for a disappointment." Mom said, "Pray, children. Tell Jesus." And pray they did.

On Christmas Eve, the children watched out the window for visitors, but no one came. "Blow out the lamp and go to bed", Dad said. "Nobody is going to come. No one even knows we're out here." The children turned out the lamp and got in bed, but they were too excited to sleep. Was this not Christmas? Had they not asked God to send them the presents He wanted them to have? Did Mom not say God answers prayer?

Late that night, when one of the children spotted headlights coming down the dirt road, everyone jumped out of bed and ran to the window. The commotion woke up Mom and Dad. "Don't get excited, children," Dad said. "They're probably not coming here. It's just someone who got lost." The children kept hoping and the car kept coming. Then, Dad lit a lamp. They all wanted to rush to the door at the same time, but Mr. Canaday said, "Stay back. I'll go."

Someone got out of the car and called, "I was wondering if someone here can help me unload these bags." The children dashed out the door to lend a hand. Mom said to her youngest, "Stay here, Judy, and help Mom open the bags and put up the gifts."A deacon from the church in town had gone to bed that Christmas Eve, and lay there tossing and turning, unable to get the Canaday family off his mind.

Later, he said, "I didn't know what kind of shape you folks were in, but I knew you had all those kids." He had gotten up and dressed and went around town, rousing people from their sleep to ask for a contribution for the Canaday family. He filled his car with bags of groceries, canned goods, toys, and clothing. Little Judy got a rag doll which remained her favorite for years.With so much food, Dad wanted to have a Christmas feast, to spread it all out and eat as they had never eaten before. Mom, ever the caretaker, said, "No, we need to make this last." And it did last, for weeks.

The next Sunday, Mrs. Canaday stood in church and told what the members---and one deacon in particular---had done for her family. There was not a dry eye in the house.Years later, the oldest sister Eva wrote up this story about her family for a school project. Eva said, "We were so thrilled by all the wonderful things in the bags, for a while we lost sight of the most special gift. The best gift that Christmas was not in brown bags at all. It was Mom's faith, as she taught her children to bring their needs to Jesus and trust Him to meet them. And a Dad's love that wanted only to protect his children from hurt and disappointment."

When Carrie finished telling her story, she added, "Little Judy is my wonderful grandmother."

Today, Judy Canaday Dryden lives in Sanger, Texas. As she relived this event from seventy years ago over the phone, one could hear the tear in her voice and feel her pride in being the recipient of such a precious heritage from her mother and father.

At Christmas, we celebrate praying mothers and caring fathers and believing children. We give thanks for sensitive deacons and generous friends and sleepless nights. And we praise God for the hard times that teach unforgettable lessons, stories of faithfulness that get told and retold through the years inspiring each new generation to place their faith in a loving Savior.

Sometimes Less Is More

I want to dedicate this posting to all of those that are feeling the stress of the Christmas season for one reason or another. Perhaps your job and your schedule is so demanding that you just don't seem to find enough hours in the day to get done everything that you think needs to be done before Christmas morning arrives. Perhaps You find yourself in a different life situation then what you were on past Christmas mornings and through no fault of your own you find yourself a single parent due to divorce or the death of a spouse, your youngest child has left the nest, you lost your job and the money just isn't there like it always was before. I pray that what I am about to say will help ease the stress that you may be feeling.

This doesn't come from a mother or a friend that just wants to help lift your spirits. Even though I very much want to do that. It comes from the memories of a woman that has spent 58 Christmas mornings on this earth. Not only childhood memories, but memories as a mother of two small children and memories of a mother experiencing the empty nest.

As I was growing up both of my parents worked to make ends meet. This was a rare situation in the 50's. Christmas as a child bring back memories for me of Grandma Crace's Apple Stack Cake and trips to Aunts and Uncles houses for Christmas dinner. Memories of Christmas plays at church. As for presents under the tree I remember 1 gift that if I close my eyes I can still visualize what it looked like. It was a ballerina doll. She wore a black sparkly tutu and ballerina slippers. Poor things feet had to have gotten cramps in them as she wasn't a jointed doll and her feet were always pointed in the ballet position. I also remember she wasn't your typical doll because her hair was dark brown like mine and not blond.

By the time I had reached the 6th grade, my dad had gone into business for himself and we had moved to Florida. That was the leanest Christmas I can recall. There wasn't enough money for a tree that year, but somehow my mother had scrimped together enough money to buy my brother and me something for Christmas morning. Our mother was a master at scrimping. I had two gifts that Christmas. One was a baton, the other was the book, "Little Women". That Christmas I will always carry in my heart. I will always remember that in some way my mother had to have sacrificed in some way to be able to buy those gifts for us. I wish to this day that I still had that book, but I don't. I actually wore it out over the years from reading it and rereading it. I know there were Chistmas mornings when there were lots of gifts under the tree, but it was the times when there were just a few that brings warmth to my heart.

Then as a parent there was our first Christmas in California when my children were 4 and 9. Being a military family, money was seldom in abundance. I always started Christmas shopping in August and either put things in lay away or bought a little at a time and hid them. Every year by December first I had Christmas taken care of and all that was left was the baking and decorating. Not quite the case that Christmas. When we arrived in California there was no base housing available. They were starting to pull the troops out of Viet Nam and there was a pretty long waiting list. Civilian housing was at a premium as well. We did manage to find a small Apartment in Newport Beach that was temporary. It was located pool side and they didn't allow children in those apartments, but rented it too us until after the new year as a gesture of kindness. I had Christmas bought, but it was in a moving van someplace between North Carolina and California.

We furnished that little apartment with lawn chairs and a folding table and our beds were sleeping bags. Now what will we do about Christmas? I found a three foot tree at a variety store and a few ornaments to decorate it with. We only decorated the side of the tree we could see. I sat it on top of a big empty square box I found at the grocery store and used a towel for a tree skirt. I think that Christmas my children each received two gifts. I remember buying Chris a guitar that year. I remember this only because he played it non stop. I remember stressing out over that Christmas and the concern I had that my children were going to be disappointed. They weren't though. It was like a Charley Brown Christmas that year.

There were also the Christmas' that we played Santa for families that were in need. What a wonderful feeling it was to tip toe up to someones house after dark and leave a surprise gift or two at their door. Not to forget the Christmas Eves spent visiting nursing homes with the church. The joy on those dear faces as the children sang Christmas songs and passed out cards and hugs to the senior citizens. There was just as much joy on the faces of those that came to visit, as those that lived there.

My experience with the empty nest was when my Tersie left home. True she was only 70 some miles away going to school at OSU, but she was gone. It was the Christmas season and my Tersie was gone. Never mind the fact that she would be home over Christmas break. I forced myself to do Christmas shopping that year, yet just couldn't seem to get any baking done. That was something that we did together and she just wasn't there. Cookies and home made bread was always on my to do list for Christmas. I just didn't have the Christmas spirit. Needless to say, when Tersie did come home she didn't hesitate to let me know her disappointment that I had not done any baking.

So to make an already very long posting to an end, I will give you the bottom line.

It isn't going to matter how many presents there are under the tree on Christmas morning. It will be that one special gift that will be remembered any way. It will be the love and warmth of family and home that will be remembered. It will be those special traditions that you build with your children that will be remembered and repeated when they have families of their own. Children are really more in tune to the world around them then we think. If there are financial hardships, trust me they are aware and they really won't be expecting a truckload of gifts under the tree any way. They understand and they still love their family unconditionally. It is the perfect time to put the focus of the true meaning of Christmas back where it should be.

Merry Christmas and may God shower you with his love and blessings!