My Favorite Christmas Story

One more post before I sign off until the New Year.

I grew up reading and having this story read to me.

It is my most favorite story for this time of year.

It's simply titled

Teach the Children

I like to call it "Santa Teaches of Christmas"

Late one Christmas Eve, I sank back, tired but content, into my easy chair. The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with its decorations, I couldn't help feeling that something important was missing. It wasn't long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but all of a sudden I knew that I wasn't alone. I opened my eyes, and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus himself standing next to my Christmas tree. He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him, but he was not the "jolly old elf" of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed, and there were tears in his eyes.

"Santa, what's wrong?" I asked, "Why are you crying?"

"It's the children," Santa replied sadly.

"But Santa, the children love you," I said.

"Oh, I know they love me, and they love the gifts I bring them," Santa said, "but the children of today seem to have somehow missed out on the true spirit of Christmas. It's not their fault. It's just that the adults, many of them not having been taught themselves, have forgotten to teach the children."

"Teach them what?" I asked.

Santa's kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas. Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear, and touch is much more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas which we now observe. Teach them what it is they truly represent."

Santa reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny Christmas tree and set it on my mantle. "Teach them about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen, with its unchanging color, represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Its needles point heavenward as a reminder that mankind's thoughts should turn heavenward as well."

Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it at the top of the small tree. "The star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise on the night that Jesus Christ was born. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises, and that wise men still seek Him."

"Red," said Santa, "is the first color of Christmas." He pulled forth a red ornament for the tiny tree. "Red is deep, intense, vivid. It is the color of the life-giving blood that flows through our veins. It is the symbol of God's greatest gift. Teach the children that Christ gave His life and shed His blood for them that they might have eternal life. When they see the color red, it should remind them of that most wonderful Gift."

Santa found a silver bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. "Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children to follow the true Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep."

Santa placed a candle on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from its one tiny flame brightened the room. "The glow of the candle represents how people can show their thanks for the gift of God's Son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ's foot steps... to go about doing good. Teach them to let their light so shine before people that all may see it and glorify God. This is what is symbolized when the twinkling lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright, shining candles, each of them representing one of God's precious children, their light shining for all to see."

Again Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped cane. As he hung it on the tree he spoke softly. "The candy cane is a stick of hard white candy: white to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock the foundation of the church, and the firmness of God's promises. The candy cane is in the form of a 'J' to represent the precious name of Jesus, who came to earth. It also represents the Good Shepherd's crook, which He uses to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. The original candy cane had three small red stripes, which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus, so that we can have the promise of eternal life."

"Teach these things to the children."

Santa brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh, fragrant greenery tied with a bright red bow. "The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection, which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven-turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will towards all and its color reminds us of Christ's sacrifice. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love. It is a circle, without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children."

I asked, "But where does that leave you, Santa?"

The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa's face. "Why bless you, my dear," he laughed, "I'm only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I'll ever be forgotten."

"I think I'm beginning to understand."

"That's why I came," said Santa. "You're an adult. If you don't teach the children these things, then who will?"

(Author Unknown)

Source: http://www.neloo.com/Christmas/Christmas1.html

One Year of Blogging

It's been one year of blogging here. 

There have been ups and downs. 

There have been complaints. 

There have been stories. 

But you know what?

I DON'T CARE!

This is my blog and I'll do what I want with it.

And it will continue that way. 

Readers, thank you for reading this blog and putting up with me. 

Please continue to read my posts as they come.

More posts to come! 

Until next time, Merry Christmas!

My Favorite Part of this Time of the Year

This time of the year can be described as joyful, stressful, magical, happy, special, etc. 
There are many components: tree, ornaments, stockings, presents, wreaths, lights, etc.
And lets not forget all of the food: cookies, caramels, pies, popcorn balls, etc. 
All of those things are great and I love them, but my most favorite part about this year is giving. 

As much as I love to decorate, bake, wrap, and sing, I really, really love to give presents. I love picking out a special gift for each family member and friend on my shopping list. I love putting my time and thought into my shopping list and finding that one gift that is absolutely perfect and that I know the receive will love! For example: Last year I was looking ALL OVER for a gift for my dad and I couldn't find what I wanted to give him. But then I was at a store just browsing through their Christmas section and I found it. A dancing and singing hippopotamus. My dad absolutely loves the song (and history behind it) "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," which is what the hippo sings and dances to. I thought it would be hilarious and more of a gag gift. Low and behold, it was his favorite gift that year and it still sits out where everyone can see it all year long. It's also the Squid's favorite gift last year too. 

As stressful and hard it is to find that perfect gift for each member of the family, I love it. I love seeing their faces when they open their gift and instantly fall in love with it. I love seeing the gift in use. I love seeing the joy each gift brings. Yes, I may have searched all over town (and maybe a couple more) to find the gift. It may have taken a few months of stressing, searching, and traveling to find it. I may have lost some hair over it. And yes, sometimes I fail and don't find that perfect gift, but I know that no matter what I give them, those who love me will love that I even thought about them during this time of year. 

I couldn't care less about what everyone gets me or how many gifts I get. I don't need a lot. I don't need the latest and greatest tech gadget. I don't need the latest movie. I don't need toys, lots of clothes, kitchen supplies, etc. I already have everything I may ever need. I do have desires and wants, but if I don't get them, it's not the end of the world. Christmas won't be ruined if I don't get that one item I've been yearning for all year or the one movie I saw this year that I don't already have. Christmas will be ruined if I can't give to those I love the most. Christmas will be ruined if I don't have a roof over my head, clothes to keep me warm, and food to keep me fed. Christmas will be ruined if I can't express my love through music, gifts, and time. Christmas will be ruined if there is no love during this time of year. 

That's the whole reason for the season! Jesus Christ was sent to this earth, atoned for our sins, suffered on Gethsemane, and was put up on the cross because he and our Heavenly Father love us. No one anywhere at any time would make the sacrifices they do if they didn't love anyone. God sacrificed his Only Begotten because He loves us. Jesus Christ stood up and said, "Send me," because he loves us. We may not feel their love all the time, especially when we are at our lowest, but I know that they do love us and they are constantly watching over us and blessing us with what we need. 

That being said, I challenge all of my readers to help someone in need this Christmas season. It's not too late. I participated in Jamberry's Black Friday Remix where a portion of the sales from that weekend went to Toys for Tots. Want to know how much we donated? $150,000! And I am very happy to say that I helped with that. So please give. Put your change in the bucket of the poor soul ringing the bell outside the store. Give a neighbor some help with shoveling the walks. Put an item into the Food Bank and Toys for Tots boxes. Whatever you can give, please give it.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Make sure to tell the ones you love that you love them!

I love you all!

Love is the Key

This isn't a complaint. It's just some thoughts I have had on a topic that FATMAN! and I have talked about a lot. 

There's the saying, "You only hurt the ones you love." 

Why is that?

FATMAN! and I have had a conversation about this quite often. I think the answer is simple: You only hurt the ones you love because they care. The people you don't love, and therefore they don't love you, don't care because they don't care about you or what you do or say. 

I think it truly is that simple. 

So then, why do we hurt the ones we love? Why is it that we are hurting others? A lot of the time it's completely unintentional. It's saying or doing the wrong thing without realizing that it may be offensive. And at those times there's nothing you can do except to apologize afterwards. But what about when you purposefully hurt those you love? What happens then?

I have known of families who were divided because of at least one person who stuck their nose where it shouldn't have been and purposefully hurt their family. I would be lying if I said I have never done that. But what has happened to those families? They never see each other. They never get together and share stories, meals, laughter, or time together. Cousins never meet each other. Aunts and uncles never meet nieces and nephews. Grandparents only see certain grandchildren at certain times. But the biggest thing that happens is that there is no love being shared in the family. 

Love is the key. This is my mother-in-law's life motto (more or less) and FATMAN! has had many conversations with her about this phrase. There are many, many meanings behind the phrase and I'm sure that there are more to be discovered in the future. But the bottom line is Love is the key! To everything! Especially family. Without love, there is no family. Just people who carry the same blood who don't care about each other. Love is what truly ties a family together. 

This holiday season, let's please remember our families and how much we are grateful for and love them. I know I have said and done some nasty things in the past to my family members, but I truly am grateful for and love each and every one of my family members. I am not perfect and I am making my amends. But if there is one thing that I want my family to know is that I love them and am always thinking of them. 

No More Fruity Tootsie Rolls Before Bed

***SET UP: Present time. Present ages. Our story starts when I’m being picked up for a first date that I don’t remember agreeing to. Oh! And I’m sleeping over. Pete, my date, and I are joining Kiara and her date at the movies.***

Pete knocks on my door, I answer it, he grabs my over-night bag, and walks back to his van... which is being driven by his mom. We go to the arcade/movie theater/bowling alley/events complex. That’s where we meet up with Kiara and her date (I didn't catch his name) and make our way through the events complex to get to our movie theater. But it’s not your typical theater setting. There aren’t any enclosed rooms for one movie. There are about three 3-walled open areas all next to each other all showing the same move so that the dialogs don’t overlap. Each movie that was being shown had its own “section” throughout the complex. The five of us make our way to our movie section to see the latest Disney/Pixar movie and get settled in; Pete’s mom staying near the back to give us “couples” some privacy and the rest of us going towards the left-most wall to claim some bean bag type beds. They were giant bean bags but at the “top” of the bag there was a raised part that was extra stuffed to serve as a pillow. So we get settled in and the movie starts. We are sitting (from left to right one next to each other on the same bean bag bed) Pete, Kiara’s date, Kiara, and me, because Kiara and I were talking about something as we were settling in and didn’t pay attention to who was sitting where. So, the movie starts and after a while, I get up to go find the bathroom. Someone else in our section also gets up to leave. I get out of the area first and started to wander. I ran into my 10-year-old sister Rhea, who was there on a date as well. We start arguing about how she’s not old enough to date yet and that mom was going to be furious when she finds out and dad was going to be even madder... Rhea kept pointing out that I was on a date with someone I didn’t even like and that it wasn’t fair to Pete to lead him on like that... The arguing went on for a long time. Anyway, I finally had enough of the arguing and turned to go back to my movie. The guy who had left the movie area with me was standing there fuming and glaring at me. I had never seen this guy before. I didn’t know what his problem was. He pulled out a knife of sorts (it was more like a comb of very fine needles, but all the needles were right next to each other so it looks like a ragged blade) and started running at me. Pete was there to block the attack before I even understood what was happening. Pete’s block sent the knife flying but it didn’t stop my assailant. He kept charging towards me and ended up tackling me onto the floor. As he as pinned me down, sitting on top of me, and raised his arm ready to strike me, Pete tackled him from behind and took care of everything. I didn’t see how Pete took care of him because people had crowded around me as a wall of protection. I stood up after a little while and waited for the crowd to disperse. Pete walked towards me but there were 4 of him coming. I fell and the next thing I knew I was back at my movie, lying on a different bean bag bed than before with Pete lying next to me. When I had “come to,” Pete rolled over, made sure I was okay (I was just dazed and confused by all of what had just transpired), and then he kissed me, if you can even call it a kiss. It was the worse kiss I have ever experienced in my life! His lips were dry, hard, and small. He seemed to be hesitating while he kissed me and then he lingered a lot longer than he should have. But when he pulled away and laid back down, I was even more dazed and confused (mostly confused). After a few minutes of watching the movie, I remembered that he had knocked the knife out of my attacker’s hand and I asked if he was okay. He showed me where the knife had managed to cut into his fingers, tiny pin-pricks slowly oozing blood. I grabbed his hand and his fingers immediately looked better (somehow I had the power to heal wounds). It was at that time that Pete’s mom announced that she had gotten a room upstairs and that we “kids” shouldn’t do anything stupid or regretful. I left to change into my pajamas, came back, and curled up next to Pete, completely exhausted and ready for sleep, when the next movie started.

The End