Christmas Spirit

I am giving a talk Sunday about Christmas...one of my favorite topics of course. As I have been studying to find just the right inspiration for my talk, I found this video HERE:

 I was touched by the small and simple acts that we show to Others that truly make all the difference in the world. Children seem to be born with that type of service and compassion, but it seems to leave us a bit as we get older and what better time than Christmas time to learn it again.
I love Christmas, I love the spirit of HOPE, PEACE and JOY that it brings to the world. Oh why can't we have Christmas every day?

"The real Christmas comes to him who has taken Christ into his life as a moving, dynamic, vitalizing force. The real spirit of Christmas lies in the life and mission of the Master....

"If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God. Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees—alone or with loved ones—give thanks for the good things that have come to you, and ask that His Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve Him and keep His commandments" ~ Howard W. Hunter

A little child should lead thee...

Loved this story...so true! Good night dear friends!

 

It was just a few more days until Christmas in San Francisco, and the shopping downtown was starting to get to us. I remember crowds of people waiting impatiently for slow-moving buses and streetcars on those little cement islands in the middle of the street. Most of us were loaded down with packages, and it looked like many of us were beginning to wonder if all those countless friends and relatives actually deserved so many gifts in the first place. This was not the Christmas spirit I'd been raised with.

When I finally found myself virtually shoved up the steps of a jammed streetcar, the idea of standing there packed like a sardine the whole way home was almost more than I could take. What I would have given for a seat! I must have been in some kind of exhausted daze because as people gradually got off, it took me a while to notice that there was room to breathe again.

Then I saw something out of the corer of my eye. A small, dark-skinned boy, he couldn't have been more than five or six, tugged on a woman's sleeve and asked, "Would you like a seat?" He quietly led her to the closest free seat he could find. Then he set out to find another tired person. As soon as each rare, new seat became available, he would quickly move through the crowd in search of another burdened woman who desperately needed to rest her feet.

When I finally felt the tug on my own sleeve, I was absolutely dazzled by the beauty in this little boy's eyes. He took my hand, saying, "Come with me," and I think I'll remember that smile as long as I live. As I happily placed my heavy load of packages on the floor, the little emissary of love immediately turned to help his next subject.

The people on the streetcar, as usual, had been studiously avoiding each other's eyes, but now they began to exchange shy glances and smiles. A businessman offered a section of newspaper to the stranger next to him; three people stooped to return a gift that had tumbled to the floor. And now people were speaking to one another. That little boy had tangibly changed something, we all relaxed into a subtle feeling of warmth and actually enjoyed the trip through the final stops along the route.

I didn't notice when the child got off. I looked up at one point and he was gone. When I reached my stop I practically floated off that streetcar, wishing the driver a happy holiday, noticing the sparkling Christmas lights on my street in a fresh, new way. Or maybe I was seeing them in an old way, with the same open wonder I felt when I was five or six. I thought, "So that's what they mean by And a little child shall lead them...."  Written by Beverly M. Bartlett

"Somehow not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to make you glad."
John Greenleaf Whittier

Christmas Spirit!

Tonight was our family Christmas Dinner and Party. I don't have the photos yet, so I will share with you one of my favorite Christmas poems. This is why I want Christmas to be celebrated all year long. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we did?
Good night dear friends!

I am the Christmas Spirit

I enter the home of poverty, causing pale-faced children to open their eyes wide, in pleased wonder/
I cause the miser's clutched hand to relax and thus paint a bright spot on his soul.
I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the old glad way.
I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood, and brighten sleep with dreams woven of magic.
I cause the eager feet to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind hearts amazed at the goodness of the world.
I cause the prodigal to pause a moment of his wild, wasteful way and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears--tears which wash away the hard times of sorrow.
I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been and pointing forward to good days yet to be.
I come softly into the still, white home of pain, and lips that are too weak to speak just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.
In a thousand ways, I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God, and for a littlee moment forget the things that are small and wretched.
I am the Christmas Spirit!  ~ E.C. Baird

"The real Christmas comes to him who has taken Christ into his life as a moving, dynamic, vitalizing force. The real spirit of Christmas lies in the life and mission of the Master....

"If you desire to find the true spirit of Christmas and partake of the sweetness of it, let me make this suggestion to you. During the hurry of the festive occasion of this Christmas season, find time to turn your heart to God. Perhaps in the quiet hours, and in a quiet place, and on your knees—alone or with loved ones—give thanks for the good things that have come to you, and ask that His Spirit might dwell in you as you earnestly strive to serve Him and keep His commandments" ~ Howard W. Hunter

The Christmas Spirit

The story that I chose for today is... one of the stories from my new Chicken Soup for the Soul Tales & Christmas book, I received for Christmas from one of my dear friends. The story is too long to type, but I will give you the jest of the story and some of the parts that meant a lot to me.
   It was called the LESSONS FROM MY GRANDPARENTS by Beth Cato. The story started out with a mother reminding her daughter while she was home for Christmas, to please go through some of the boxes that her grandmother had set aside for her. Her grandmother was now in a nursing home, but wanted to make sure that some of her favorite things, went to her favorite people. She was surprised to see what her grandmother had passed on to her...her Christmas Santa collection.  Here is what she said about her Grandmother and Christmas. 
   "Her enthusiasm for Christmas rivaled that of any bouncy child. She grabbed Christmas gifts on sale all year long." She encouraged me to start playing traditional carols in June or July.  "Good music is good music all  year long," she said. There's no need to limit to December."
   When I was on summer break, she helped me to start making crafts to give as gifts to my uncles and cousins. More than once, she surprised me with bags of Styrofoam circles and sparkly pom poms. When my grandpa was sick and bedbound, we would sit in nearby chairs and work on little projects while Burl Ives crooned over the sound of the fans and air conditioning.
   Knowing her joy for Christmas, I always bought her Santa figurines. Despite my small allowance, I believed I was giving her something grand. As an adult, I realized the truth.
   "Some of these are outright hideous," I muttered, already sorting through them to make a donate-to-charity pile. "Why did she keep them?" I help up one porcelain Santa Claus with runny mascara and almost nonexistent legs.
   "Because you gave them to her," Mom said.
   My grandma has been widowed almost twenty years now. She needs a walker to get around. Her eyesight is too poor, her hands too shaky to do crafts. But she loves her holiday music and the sight of Santa Claus still makes her squeal. Looking back, I realized how much she and Grandpa taught me about the true spirit of the season.
Now she had gifted me with all of her beloved old Santa Clauses as she prepared for her own death. With my returns home so infrequent, I never knew if I would see her again. Every hug and kiss was precious. She knew I loved her, but beyond that, did she realize how she embodied Christmas for me?

   The story then ends with a letter to her Grandmother, thanking her for all the things that she has taught her and how she hopes to pass all those things on to her children some day. Here is the last sentence of her letter...
   "I'm proud to be your granddaughter. For me,  you'll always be the spirit of Christmas.
Love,
Beth  
 

" A grandparent is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend."   ~ Unknown

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air."   ~ W. T. Ellis

"From Home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other."      ~Emily Matthews

Christmas Spirit

I am sorry that I didn't write a post yesterday. I was in a lot of pain, and so I stayed low most of the day. When my pain is really bad, it hurts to even write so... thanks for understanding. I was able to go to church today for a little while, and how grateful I am. Going to church renews and uplifts me. So even though I couldn't stay the whole time, I was thankful for being there for at least, a little while. Plus, I love singing the Christmas songs in church, that was a great memory from the time I was a little girl sitting in church with my family and grandma.
Here is  your Christmas story for tonight, it's good.

Christmas Spirit

The line of disgruntled customers snaked around the counter and disappeared somewhere in the men's ware department. There were just two more shopping days before Christmas, and most of the shoppers in line were in panic mode, coiling to strike. One of those customers was my husband, Dale.
Dale is one of those people who shop better under pressure. They are the no-nonsense shoppers who depend on fast service because every minute counts as the countdown before Christmas continues. But the service here was anything but fast.
The problem was the elderly lady at the front of the line, who was twittering happily to the lone salesgirl manning the cash register.
"This sweater is for my granddaughter," the lady explained. " She's going to be a teacher, you know. And she's doing very well. She has a nice boyfriend who is an architectural technician. He's just started a job with a good company, but you know, we  haven't  seen any sign of a ring yet. Young people  seem to wait so long these days. They've been going out for quite a while now. Why, I was married with one child and another one on the way when I was her age."
On and on she rattled as she painstakingly counted out her change, oblivious to the writhing serpent of customers behind her. When she finally zipped her purse shut and picked up her parcel, the clerk motioned to the man next in line.
"Thank you, dearie," said the lady as she started to move slowly away, checking the contents of her shopping bag. She was almost to the end of the counter when suddenly she turned back. "Opps! Excuse me," she cried. A collective hiss went down the line. Several fangs were bared. An ominous rattle of keys began in someone's pocket.
"What's this for?" she asked, holding up a piece of paper
"It's a discount coupon that will give you a 15 percent off your next purchase here at the store, from now until the end of January," replied the weary salesgirl.
"Well, thank you, my dear, but I won't be needing this," she beamed. "Here, you can use it right now!" she said, handing it to the man next in line. The man's eyes widened, and he mumbled a word of thanks as she shuffled to the door.
Then an amazing thing happened. The man stepped up to the counter and used the coupon that the elderly lady had given him. When the clerk handed him another coupon for his next visit to the store, he promptly turned around and gave it to the woman in line behind him. After she had used that coupon toward her purchase and the clerk gave her another one, the woman then passed it back to the shopper behind her. By the time it was Dale's turn, the salesclerk had a smile on her face, and so did Dale as he turned around to give his coupon to the lady behind him. And so it went, on down the line until there  was nothing left of that disgruntled snake, not even a rattle. One small act of kindness had snowballed into a mountain of goodwill.
Dale says it was one of the best gifts he got that Christmas---when he discovered that the Christmas spirit is still alive and well in our world.   ~ Lisa Beringer ( Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas )

"The only blind person at Christmastime is he who has not Christmas in his heart"  ~ Helen Keller

"Selfishness makes Christmas a burden, love makes it a delight."   ~Unknown

"He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree."   ~ ( Sunshine Magazine )