Merry Christmas and have a Safe and joyful Holiday Season

Giving gifts seems to be an essential part of our Christmas celebrations. However, because of the commercialism that often accompany this tradition, some people may question if this practice has any spiritual value. This year so many stores are open 80-100 hours straight to accomodate the consumers. Because we all tend to procrastinate with many things we do, this also carries over to our Christmas shopping habits, resulting in last minute purchases, huge crowds at the malls and much stress, sometimes caused by too much spending. After all, this is a time to be joyful and stress free and give generously to demonstrate our love and appreciation for others, but it doesn't mean that we have to fill our credit cards with purchases we cannot afford. Furthermore we must question our gift giving motives. Are we giving because we feel obligated or are we giving because of genuine love and appreciation? God wants us to be joyful givers who delight in blessing others.

If you look at the Christmas story in the Bible (Luke, Matthew and John) it offers us an interesting perspective: Everyone involved in Christ's birth gave SOMETHING.

1. Mary (Jesus's mother) was engaged to Joseph and got pregnant, being obedient to God's will and giving of herself. By doing so, she also gave up her reputation. In those days, an engagement was as binding as marriage, even though the couple did not sleep together. To be found pregnant during this time would have a lot of people gossiping behind her back, and such adultery could have resulted in her being  'stoned to death'.
2. The sheperds heard the birth announcement from an angel and left their sheep and hurried to find the baby, and then gave the news to many people about the angelic message and the birth of the promised Messiah.
3. The wise men, who were probably astrologers, or philosophers who had traveled all the way from Persia (present day Iran), arrived in Jerusalem asking: "where is He who has been born King of the Jews"? When they found him, they fell down and worshipped him and gave him gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh.
4. Most importantly, God demonstrated his love by giving us the gift of His Son. Thus, we should also have the privilege of showing our love to others by giving them 'gifts'.

So, what are you going to give others this Christmas? Remember, gifts don't have to cost money or be wrapped in a box. How about giving of your time? Maybe someone you know would appreciate a call or a visit. Rather than spending all your money on family and friends, maybe you can help someone who is in financial need.

Well, whatever it is you are giving this Christmas, we wish you a Holiday Season full of Joy, Blessings and time spent with the ones you love.



 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND HAPPY HANUKKAH

Thanksgiving and Hanukkah both fall on the same day this year, first time since 1888.

It's always easy to be grateful when the blessings are coming your way. However, how do you maintain a thankful heart when sometimes it seems your whole world is falling apart? How do you maintain a positive attitude? We were recently invited to take part at a dinner at Hope Of The Valley Rescue Mission. It is an organization that provides daily shelter, meals, hot showers, clothing, education, rehab and other life essential services to the homeless, in the San Fernado Valley.

Many are single moms, others receive help to overcome addictions, and receive training to be able to care for themselves, once again, and be productive members of our society. At the dinner several  people stood up and gave their testimonies. Each one had a genuine attitude of gratitude. What was refreshing and touching at the same time, was that they were thankful for what they had received at Hope Of The Valley, and they had hope on what remained in their lives, rather than what was taken. They had learned how to minimize their burdens and how to maximize their blessings. A lesson for all of us to learn.

I hope that the following quotes on "Gratitude", from the book "Quotations to help you-from out of their minds", by Mel and Bryna Solon, will set the mood as we are preparing for this Thanksgiving Season.

• "When counting your blessings, be sure to include on your list those things your are grateful for because they are not part of your life: those dreadful things that never happened to you. Consider how much worse things could be, and then be thankful for what is"  -T.Y.

• "Express Gratitude generously, and sincerely; receive Gratitude humbly and graciously; expect Gratitude rarely if ever" Dr. William Arthus Ward

Enjoy the good food (and all that tryptophan) and fellowship with your family and friends and don't worry about dieting........you can start a diet the day after!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 

Welcoming those who influense our lives

Happy Spring....All the plants and trees are starting to bloom, it is my favorite season of the year..

Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago I lost my mother-in-law. I will miss her, we got along well.
When someone we love dies, all we have left to look back on, is the memories we have made and shared together. As part of my eulogy I read a passage from the book "God's guest List", by Debbie Macomber. The theme of the book is that God sends people into our lives. We are either the guest on someone's list, or someone is a guest on our list. We influence each other.

A friend of mine suggested that I post the passage that I read, so here it is:

The story goes something like this:

A woman arrived at the gates of heaven to be met by St Peter. "You may first want to join the others at the throne, " he said to her, "and then greet those you loved on earth. But when you are ready, I'll take you on a tour of heaven."

When the time came for her tour, she could hardly take it all in. It reminded her a little of her earthly home, but she could see that earth had only been a pale shadow of what she was seeing now. They explored every nook and cranny of heaven-waterfalls, fields of flowers, exquisite buildings, and streets of gold.

As the tour drew to an end, she noticed a massive door they had not yet explored. A gold padlock secured it. "What's in that room?" she asked. "You don't want to see that room", St Peter said, steering her away from it. "It's only a storeroom".

"But I do. May I see inside? I want to see every bit of heaven". She said.

St Peter didn't answer. Instead he took a large key out of his pocket, put it in the lock, and turned it. The tumblers clicked and the padlock opened. He took the lock off and opened the door. The woman had to blink several times to take it all in. Inside the cavernous room were stacks and stacks of gifts, wrapped in all the colors of the rainbow and tied with the colors of heaven.

She clapped her hands with delight. "Is this where you store presents for everyone in heaven?"

"No. These gifts are not for heaven, they were meant for earth".

"What do you mean 'were'?" She walked through the stacks and came to a pile marked with her name. "Look, these gifts are for me." She fingered the paper and ribbons. "May I open them?"

"No. You don't need them now." St Peter put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her toward the door.

"But if I don't need them now, does that mean I needed them on earth?" She couldn't take her eyes off the pile. To think she would never get to enjoy all those beautifully wrapped gifts.

He nodded his head. "Yes, you needed them on earth."

She looked around the room, realizing that there must have been millions of gifts. Maybe more, since she couldn't see an end to the room. "Why weren't my gifts sent to me on earth?" As she looked closer, she could read names on all the gifts."Not just my gifts; why haven't any of these gifts been sent?"

St Peter sighed. "You don't understand. Every one of them were sent." Moving his arm in an arc that encompassed the whole room, he said, "All of these and more. These are the ones that were returned unopened." He moved her toward the door. "Many people on earth don't recognize God's gifts and fail to open them."

Well, we all love to give and receive gifts. Gifts come in different shapes and sizes, and some have pretty bows and pretty paper, but the gift, once you open it, may be disappointing. Other gifts come in plain paper, very unassuming, but once you open them you find the perfect gift inside. So it is in real life. Unfortunately, God's presents don't always come gift-wrapped, and they are not easily recognized. Some initially come looking like challenges or they come in a form of a person that crosses our path. Our duty is to be in touch and recognize them when they enter our lives, and hopefully not have too many gifts returned 'unopened'.

We all touch each other's lives in some way and everyone who enters our life is a gift to us for various reasons. There is never a coincidence. We may not realize the reason until many years later.

I hope you enjoyed the parable.
Happy Passover and Happy Easter.

Show some real LOVE

I read somewhere the other day, that the annual candy consumption is over 25 pounds per person! WOW! No wonder we all stand to lose a few pounds. So this year why not give a heartfelt card for Valentine's Day instead, or better yet, spend the day with a loved one and create cherished memories that will last a long long time....

There was a survey done where people were asked :
What is your favorite way of showing LOVE?

Here are some of the answers:

"Doing a favor for someone when they need it"
"Practicing random acts of kindness without expecting anything in return"
"Spending time, as it is the most precious gift you can give"
"Cooking for people"
"Showing love using actions, as they speak louder then words"
"To listen carefully to others speaking...meeting those needs they spoke of!"
"To give hugs and kisses"
"Doing things for my wife stealthily-like filling up her car or reloading
  her Starbucks card" (one of my favorites)"
"I show love thru my poetry and painting"
"Give a smile"
"I show my love by baking...making a great home-cooked meal for someone"
"Truly caring about another above myself, in words and deeds"
"Greeting others with a smile, a gentle touch, lending an ear and being fully
  available to help, when someone needs you"
"Sacrificing other plans in order to lend a hand when needed"
"Lots of hugs, kisses and cookies"

I find it interesting that most people show love by giving of themselves, listening, and
doing something that the other person needs (not what we think they need). Things don't
need to be expensive to be thoughtful. My husband always helps me with the little things,
which make my life easier. He often does the dishes, and makes me coffee in the morning.
We joke and have fun together. Sometimes we read to each other. All of us have strengths and
weaknesses, and if we do what the other person cannot do, we help each other. (The main thing
is to also appreciate each other's efforts). We also love and want to be loved in different ways.

In his book, The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman claims that you can create a strong,
happy marriage and strong relationships if you learn to speak each other's "love" language.
Each one of us, he says, have a dominant love language:

 Words of Affirmation. This love language is marked by the desire to hear words of encouragement, praise, approval and appreciation. This person treasures hearing "I Love You".
Quality Time. This person not only wants to spend time with you, but also wants your undivided attention, with plenty of meaningful conversation.
Receiving Gifts. From heartfelt handmade gifts, to flowers, or even diamond rings, this person feels loved when you give them a token of your affection.
Acts of service. This person appreciates it when  the one you love helps you with the household chores, or walks your dog. You feel cherished and valued.
Physical Touch. To this person there is nothing better than being touched, whether it is holding hands, hugging or kissing. A foot massage makes them feel genuinely loved (Oh, YES!!).

So, there you have it. Love language is like any other language. If we can understand each other's language and start using it, we can make each other feel truly loved.

So, what is your favorite way of showing and receiving love? Whatever it is, enjoy it and do it all year long, not just on Valentine's Day.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S

Happy New Year

Another new year is here and almost the month of January is already gone! One thing I did  last year is read several good books. I meant to write some reviews but I got sidetracked, it's still not too late. Here are a few of the ones I really enjoyed:
1) Dewey-the small town library cat who touched the world
2) Making the rounds with Oscar-the extraordinary gift of an ordinary cat
3) Hell or High water-surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River (a little hard to get thru it, but it was very interesting)
4) Twelve extra ordinary women - how God shaped these women of the Bible and what he wants to do with you
5) Under the banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, author of the book Into thin Air, both books are true stories, very well researched and written (could not put the book down until it was finished). I also read a few others which I gave away and cannot remember their titles ..one of them had to do with the mayan calendar and the 'end' of the world....and the other one was a book about United States "Special Forces", amazing what those guys do and what they can endure, and the training is absolutely unbelievable!!

I am presently reading a book given to me by a friend for my birthday, it is very good: God's guest list-welcoming those who influence our lives...There you have it, maybe you can pick up one of these books, I think you will enjoy them.

So, let me ask you a personal question: did you make any resolutions for the new year? How about last year's resolutions? Did you keep any of them? If you are like most people, those resolutions are dropped by the second week of the year. But that's OK, we can always start fresh, again. I know there are a million things to do, but somehow we forget, procrastinate, or just plain run out of time. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to accomplish. This year, when you evaluate your priorities, instead of asking what enriches your life, how about asking what drains your life. Clear out what you can, and make some simple resolutions that will renew your spirit. Try to de-clutter.

Here are 5 simple things maybe we can all do:

 Reach out to your neigbors by serving them in some way (we have several new neigbors who have
 moved in in the past year. We invited them all over for a potluck a few months ago, to get to know each other. We really had a blast!).

 Contact a friend or relative you have not heard from in a long time and see "how they've been".
 (Sometimes I don' t feel like it, but 9 times out of 10 when I pick up the phone and do it, I feel
 so much better the rest of the day).

 Visit a museum. There is a museum for just about everything! What kind of things do you like?
 Take a day to envelop yourself in a long-forgotten interest (that's what I plan to do more of this year with my husband and friends, but I have to plan for it and then do it). There are so many things you can do locally and some are very inexpensive.

 Read a good, uplifting book-maybe a classic. Maybe you can read the Bible cover-to-cover
 this year. That is something I have not done, yet, but I should. (Try to read for 15-30 minutes/day,
 doesn't need to be too time consuming, but you will learn something new and it will be fun).

 If you are married, dedicate a least one day a month to "date" your spouse, if possible, once a
 week. You may wake up everyday in the same house, but sometimes it is easy to treat your
 husband or wife as a coworker. Don't take each other for granted. In between the 'to do lists'
 we all have, let's take a day to give our spouse the intimate attention he or she deserves.

Now, I think this is a pretty easy list to follow, let's all give it our best and enjoy 2013!