Find refreshment for your heart, home and life
Merry Christmas to you, my friends. I pray you will have a wonderful time celebrating Christ’s birth. If the holidays are difficult for you for some reason or another, remember that the greatest need of our life was met when Jesus came to be born as our Savior. Every other need we may have He is able to handle as well. Look to the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb and rejoice in the hope that Christmas brings.
With love,
In a week you’ll be nearly all packed and ready to head to the family Christmas gathering, but will the family Christmas gathering be ready for you? What I mean is, does your family entering the doors make everyone hold their breath?
You might adore your “rambunctious children,” and make light of their rowdiness, but when they go tearing through Aunt Linda’s house, oblivious to her belongings, to other’s privacy or the work she spent getting the house just right for the gathering, your presence might not create the delightful day for her that it is to you.
The truth is, holiday gatherings can cause friction, and often it’s caused by guests that aren’t as gracious as they could be. As you prepare to head over to someone else’s home – whether they’re relatives or friends, could I encourage you to consider others as you head into their home? Here are a few tips about being a gracious guest that we ALL need to heed:
A little thinking and planning ahead, along with instructing your children will make your family gathering a happy time for both you and your host. And they won’t think twice about inviting you back!
What suggestions do you have for being a gracious guest?
I’m so blessed! What a special week this has been, and it’s not even Christmas yet!
What was your favorite event of the past week?
Lovingly,
First of all, this is not Denise posting. This is her husband, writing to the men today.
I have a confession to make—-I hate putting up the Christmas tree!! Just keepin’ it real, folks!! 🙂 Seriously, over the years, the rigors of getting the tree ready for this festive season has been an adventure to say the least.
In the first place, I think an artificial tree is sacrilegious. As a boy, we always had a real tree, and when our girls were home, we honored the purist tradition of having a live tree. In spite of my purist leanings, going after a tree, cutting it to fit in the tree stand and then getting it to stay upright always presented its own set of bah humbugs.
There was the time I forgot to keep it wrapped after purchasing it from the tree farm. Getting it through the door was a winner! Or the time it kept leaning toward the south, so along with the bailin’ twine I had nailed to the window, I decided the best thing to do was to make a taught string and anchor by nailing a sixteen penny nail through the carpet to the floor! That tree was not going anywhere!
How about the year that our lives were so busy we didn’t get a tree until a couple of days before Christmas. I went to K-Mart at night and bought a beautiful, live blue spruce that stood elegantly in our living room. After the season was completed, it found itself in the backyard brush pile to be burnt up come spring. When that day came, it had not died–it was still a beautiful blue spruce . . . because it had been spray painted. For all I know that tree was just a generic pine tree sprayed to be a blue spruce!
After purchasing and getting the tree upright, comes the fun part of adorning it with light, beads, and ornaments. Those lights we bought last year? Only half of them work. The beads have to be swooped a certain way around the tree, and all the ornaments must be placed on the branches, as many of them tell a story!
I share these thoughts with you, especially men, to remind you that although we may not really be fond of the process of preparing for Christmas, it means much to our families. Because of all the effort our wives go to, we need to set aside our feelings and pitch in at Christmastime.
Decorating the house is my wife’s expertise, but there are other things I can do to help relieve her so that the Christmas season is a blessing to all. I’m writing to encourage you guys to help out. How? Here are a few suggestions:
There are some confessions you probably could make about your dislike for parts of Christmas preparation, but just as Christ came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:6-8), let’s serve our family and our wife by laying aside our grumps and “bah humbugs,” and make Christmas what it really is—a time of great joy to all people!!
Merry Christmas!
Pastor C.
During the month of December you’ll probably find yourself at someone else’s home for a gathering, a party, or a celebration of Christmas. You know how much work goes into having others over, so be sure to be a gracious and appreciative guest and take a Hostess Gift for the one who has extended the invitation. Not sure what to take? Here are Fifteen ideas!
Hostess Gifts
I gave some suggestions about the presentation, but use your imagination. Make it pretty. If you put it in a gift bag, add a couple poofs of tissue on the top. Use pretty boxes found at the Dollar store to pop your gift into and make a simple thank you even more special. It’s not about something that will “wow” your hostess, but a thoughtful gesture that expresses your thanks.
Be on the lookout for some of the items above that you can keep on hand so you’ll be prepared. Grab these items on sale and stash them away for the next time you are invited over to someone’s home! Your hostess will feel loved and appreciated!
Stay refreshed and refresh others,
RefreshHer 