Keep Your Mind on What Matters During the HolidaysPosted by Administrator on November 30th, 2009

With Black Friday looming last week, I spent a significant amount of time surfing through ads, trying to find the very best deals on the presents I would get for my kids and my lovely wife. This inevitably led to scheming about how I would outsmart or outmuscle the early morning crowds to secure the perfect gift. Along the way, I found myself catching glimpses of the things I wanted, too, and hoping that my wife would pick the right one. Before long, I couldn’t even focus on Thanksgiving. I had bigger fish to fry, bigger deals to reel in. Yeah, yeah, being grateful is good and all, but, if I planned things out well enough, I could come home Friday morning with a bounty of the best presents. I would be a hero come Christmas morning, I mused. 

I’ll admit it here and now: I got sucked into all the things about Christmas that don’t matter. And it was ruining my holidays.

Luckily, my wife brought me back down to earth after Thanksgiving dinner in her forthright way. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was getting caught up in all of this so I could be the best gift-giver around. It had become a form of self-aggrandizement. Also, I was slipping in a few items that I really wanted- and maybe my kids would like them, too. Somehow, I had turned what was supposed to be an act of Christian love and appreciation into an act of selfishness. Funny how we do that sometimes.

So I rethought all my grand gift-giving plans. Like Scrooge and Charlie Bailey before me, I reconsidered what the true meaning of Christmas is. And I made a big attitude adjustment. I would not let the retailers dictate my holiday cheer. Rather, I would make my actions reflective of the Man we celebrate at Christmas. I thought about a neighbor of mine who has been unemployed for several months now and recently lost his car. I thought about others in similar situations. I thought about my wife and what would truly make her happy. And I resolved to do something- something real- to help these people and to somehow lift their burdens.

This is my new mission for the holidays. Anyone can buy a video game. But it takes real Christian love to give a real gift.



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3 Things Families Should Be Thankful ForPosted by Administrator on November 13th, 2009

Okay. Just to set the record straight, before November contained a holiday dedicated to turkeys, the New York City Rockettes, and football, there was this thing called Thanksgiving. The point of this holiday- no kidding- was to give thanks for all of the blessings we have. 

 
Now, maybe giving thanks is outdated. Maybe it’s just not sexy enough for the advertisers. I mean, after all, if you are thankful for what you have, how can they make you lust after all their new products? Maybe. But I’m one person who still believes in giving thanks for what I have. And family is one place where I think we should all be especially grateful.
 
To get you in the mood for Thanksgiving (not Turkey Day), here are 3 things families should be thankful for:
 
1. Time together – You’ve probably noticed that things are getting busier. With unemployment still growing and the cost of living still rising, parents are finding it harder to find time to spend together. Be grateful for the time you do have together and make the most of it. It doesn’t last forever.
 
2. Love and support – True friendship and unconditional love are hard to come by. If your family members, even with all their flaws, have been there for you during hard times or good times, be grateful for them.
 
3. Shared heritage – There’s something special about knowing there is a group of people out there who have the same genetic information as you, the same parents, grandparents, the same features, the same weaknesses, the same strengths. You can’t find that kind of relationship anywhere else.
 
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope this post helps you reflect more on things you’ve been blessed with and less on, say, football or cranberry sauce.

 



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5 Things To Make Your Halloween CompletePosted by Administrator on October 24th, 2009

All Hallows Even, or Halloween, isn’t like any other holiday. Think about it—most holidays are meant to memorialize something sacred or important. Fourth of July commemorates the founding of the United States. Memorial Day commemorates, uh, people who have died. Even St. Patrick’s Day commemorates some guy chasing all of the snakes out of Ireland. But Halloween, ah ha, now there’s a unique one. Halloween celebrates nothing less than the one night of the year when the jaws of hell gape open and the forces of darkness run rampant across the earth

 
This makes Halloween a holiday of pure fun and thrill. Instead of giving gifts or pompous speechifying, we put on costumes, watch scary movies, and run around the neighborhood demanding that our neighbors give us candy—or else. For one night, we put all the high-minded stuff aside and just go crazy.
 
So, to help you celebrate your 31st right, here are 5 things to make your Halloween complete:
 
5. Make a disgusting food dish – Soon enough, you will be pressured to make the perfect turkey or pump out waves of sugar cookies for your friends and family. Before that pressure comes on, make something gross. It’s easy. Fruit punch is renamed ‘blood’. Spaghetti becomes brains or worms. Peeled grapes become eyeballs. You get the point.
 
4. Dress up – For pete’s sake, it’s the one day when you can dress like a complete nutcase and not arouse any suspicions. In fact, if you don’t wear a costume, you put a huge dent in your cool rating. Putting on something funny, scary, or flirty lets you get out of your normal, well, ‘you’ and enjoy the festivities. Do not just sit home wearing those boring khakis and that tired shirt. 
 
3. Scare someone – Halloween isn’t complete until you’ve given someone a fright. And the more elaborate the scare, the better. Scaring 3-year olds is easy. For full points, you’ve got to make a grown adult scream. 
 
2. Watch something scary – In the old days, some old geezer would show up and tell the spookiest story. Since most us are now unable to have our own storytelling old geezer, scary movies are the next best thing. What you choose to watch will depend on age and taste. For teens and up, I recommend Psycho, The Sixth Sense, Poltergeist, or What Lies Beneath. 
 
1. Eat. Mass. Amounts. Of. Candy. – We are all trying to eat better and keep ourselves fit and living until we’re 150. And I wouldn’t recommend this on any other day. It’s terrible for you. But, by golly, you have one day to go nuts on the Butterfinger bars. Take advantage of it. Then be good the rest of the year.
 
Hope this gets you off to a good start. Note: should you be incarcerated for following this advice, remember you act of your own volition and I cannot be held liable for any damages. Have a fun, crazy, and safe Halloween, everyone!


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