Tag: Jesus

Christmas Eve Joy

Evergreen - Finland
Evergreen - Finland

What Joy it is to simply be alive to experience Christmas Eve one more time.

It is so easy to take the gift of life for granted. Would you agree?

As we count our blessings for making it to mid life, let us endeavor to help others learn from our successes and our challenges.

You have my commitment. I’ll continue to write five daily blogs to help bring a balanced approach to life’s four big choices:

  1. Mind
  2. Body
  3. Spirit
  4. Money

What will you commit to?

Hey, I know its challenging to read all five every day. It is not an expectation, only a wish.

If I didn’t believe reading these each day would help others make the world a better place, I wouldn’t do it.

But I do believe.

And may I put it in a different perspective? Think about what it takes to write them, let alone simply read them.

Enjoy this Christmas Eve, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, please know that I wish you three simple things:

  1. Peace in your Soul
  2. Joy in your Spirit
  3. Love in your Heart

Mid Life Holiday Stress

Mid Life holiday stress can rob us of the joy  we could be experiencing, if only we could focus.

But how are we supposed to focus when this time of year is so hectic?

And it occurred to me that this time of year has always been hectic. Ever see “A Miracle on 34th Street“?

It was inspired on Christmas eve, 1944, when Valentine Davies, a screenwriter, went gift shopping for his wife.  It was hectic, crazy, and lacked the spirit of Christmas we all know in our hearts, but often fail to make time for.

Valentine set out to create a movie that would help remind everyone that the spirit of Christmas and Santa Claus, is real.  Very real.

Considered a “B” movie, it was released during the summer, and never advertised as a Christmas movie.

The American public embraced the movie so much that it ran in theaters straight through the end of the year.

It is one of the all-time great Christmas movies and one that my family and I watch every holiday season, when we can find the time.

Midlife Shakespeare

“What’s past is prologue.” – Shakespeare

What’s past is simply what got us to where we are today. I’m thankful for that.

What’s here and now, is what will be past tomorrow. I’m thankful for that too.

What lies in the future is the choice we get to make. Our story is being written one day, one moment at a time.

To be or not to be, I mean, to be thankful or not to be thankful, that is the question.

And starting tomorrow, December’s question is, “Am I joyful and do I spread joy?”

People Were Thankful

The Families we visited yesterday were very thankful for the Food donations that were delivered:

We visited an upscale home for the first time in ten years.  My son and I received warm and grateful greetings at every stop. One man even gave me a big hug.

I reminded our son (9) why we started this “three-times-a-year Food For Families tradition” ten years ago.

“If two boys are standing next to an adult, and one uses his manners and the other doesn’t which one do you think the adult will trust more?”

“If two adults say serving others is important, but one actually does and the other only hopes to one day, which one do you think God will say, well done?”

In telling our son why we do this, even though it may seem small, we are actually preparing ourselves to do more. By putting others first every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter morning, we are developing a habit similar to using manners.

We are cultivating good habits.  That’s all we can really ask of ourselves, isn’t it?

Only One Success?

“There is only one success – to be able to spend life in your own way”. — Christopher Morley

Agree to disagree?  Good.  Because I’m going to do both here.

Sure, it’d be great to do whatever it is you want to do, when you want to do it.  And yet, it sounds a bit self-centered to my ear.

What abut sacrifice and service to others less fortunate?  Ask Mother Teresa her opinion on Christopher Morley’s quote.  Ask Jesus, or Abe Lincoln, or Martin Luther King.

Ask a mother, a father, a school teacher, a doctor or a nurse.  Ask a street sweeper, or a cook.

We all should consider where we stand on this issue.  And if we like our answer, awesome.  If we don’t…..

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