I didn't think to post the winner here to !!!!!
If you've been waiting to find out who the winner
was go check it out here!!!
Sry' if you had been waiting for this post to be updated!
I had just made a new one with the winner! :-)
Please Send me your Info WINNER!!!
2 more days to enter!!!
Well, for starters I am shocked at how many people read my blog. :-)
I just recently got the hit over 10,000 views and I have only been blogging
avidly for a few months now. And all the neat emails from you sweet people!
I wanted to celebrate and do something a little fun!
So we are going to do a giveaway for a favorite place of mine but you have to work
for it just a we'bit! :-D
I am going to be giving away a $100 gift certificate to Restaurant.com to ONE person!
But in order to be entered into the drawing for this great gift you need to do something!
I want to hear about a funny/crazy/different Christmas/Holiday time story you have.
All you have to do is:
1. Leave me a Link to your post with the Story in it.
OR
2. Leave me a comment with your Story if you DON'T have a blog.
You will be entered in once for the drawing of this great gift!
Entries will be close at Midnight on the 21st of Dec and I will post the winner sometime
the next day.
So you will have it in time for Christmas. :-D
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9 comments:
Is this contest open to family members? :P
Your Hubby
This happened many years ago so the exact details are a bit sketchy but the memory stands out in my mind as something very sweet that happened.
My family was celebrating Christmas with my aunt and uncle's family. Under the tree there were presents for everyone. My aunt told my sister Jenny (about age 6) to go get hers out from the tree. She went and found one. She opened up her present and was so happy with it. She said, "Oh thank you, thank you, (something like that.)
She was very, very happy with her gift we could tell by the look on her face. Until someone realized it was not her gift, it was actually Jimmy's gift not Jenny's. She thought it said Jenny.
It was a huge red plaid XXL men's shirt!
I'll classify this story under the "different Christmas" category you listed ...
When I was a kid my dad lost his job because the company he worked for went bankrupt. He transferred to another state where it hadn't shut down. The economy was horrible where we lived and my parent couldn't sell our house for years. So, we lived in different states, couldn't afford to fly him to us or us to him. Things were tight, needless to say. I remember the stress and I became a worryful child....and Christmas still comes even when times are rough.
It was tough enough being away from my dad, but to know things were so extremely hard made Christmas less 'joyful.' I was never ever a greedy kid or head strong on having the 'latest' toy trend, but I still wanted Santa to come. I still wanted to experience the bliss on the day we celebrated Jesus' birth...I was a kid, what can I say?
Christmas creeped up on us and I was lonely...missing my dad. Then I found out my aunt had invited my Mom, brother and myself over to sleep over on Christmas Eve night. Would Santa know where I was though? hehehe That Christmas was amazing....we received SO many gifts! I had never received that many before and actually felt guilty for having so much because I knew I didn't 'need' all of it...but it was nice. The surprise of receiving so much didn't really take the sadness of my dad not being there, but it was somewhat of a distraction at least and it created a memory that would last a lifetime.
This is where all of this starts to matter the most ... years and years later my Mom told me about that Christmas from her point of view. She was basically like a single Mom because my dad was gone for so long. She worked 3 jobs (as a teacher and she taught Piano and sold Amway) to support us and help pay my dad's expenses where he was living. I had no clue that throughout the year she was gathering gifts from sales she would find. She wanted to make sure that my brother and I still had a great Christmas.
She would hide all the goodies in the garage. To make sure that we wouldn't stumble upon them, she kept them in a garbage bag. After months of gathering goodies, so she crept into the garage to find her treasure she buried, but there was nothing to be found. Gasp...the bag must have been thrown out on a trash day. All her efforts of saving, spending wisely, planning, anticipating seeing her kids surprised and happy were washed away. She was hoping to take our minds off the reality of the situation and instead was hit hard with a brick, no boulder, of new reality.
This story still makes me want to cry when I think of it, but even more so now that I'm a Mom who would do anything to see my daughter experience a blessed Christmas. It hurts my heart to know that she worked so hard for us and that she kept her hurt feelings to herself for years in order to not make us feel down. That's what moms do though.
All those 'surprise' gifts at my aunt's were from my aunt and uncle. They knew what happened and wanted to make sure we did have a Christmas. Although this was absolutely caring of them, I can't help but think of how humbling it was for my Mom.
What makes that Christmas so special is that because of this story every Christmas is 'different' in my eyes now. First and foremost, Christmas, to me, is about the birth of our Lord and Savior. I have already received the best gift through salvation, but Christmas is also about giving 150% from you heart just like Christ did. I try to give until it hurts. My husband and I have always tried to make Christmas 'happen' for families in need every year and without them knowing. In fact, there is a part of me that doesn't even want to admit that out loud because I don't want praise or attention for it. My point is, receiving something so special and surprising will last with someone the rest of their lives. Its contagious, thankfully. I just hope that the people we try to help, in return, choose to pass on the blessings to others ... and without credit.
"Different" is good. May you have a blessed and "different" Christmas and may the lives you touch be forever changed because of it!
~melody~
Wow, I didn't mean to write that much and hadn't realized how long it was until I posted the comment! I apologize! You know, this has inspired me to post this on my blog ... I think I will around Christmas Eve. Thank you for the inspiration....
~melody~
Found this site from Sense to Save and just have a little story to share.
My daughter is 2 this Christmas, so it's very special to see our traditions and activities through her eyes. Last year, she was too young to even get excited about all the pretty lights. This year, she is over the moon when she sees the Christmas lights ("Christmas trees" she calls them universally) and hears Christmas carols that she recognizes. Her favorites include any with long Glorias or fa-la-las.
When we set up our manger scene, I told her the story of Baby Jesus in the simplest terms and we read her The Nativity with beautiful pictures. She likes to carry the figures around, telling bits of the story that make sense to her (and I'm also pregnant, so that gets mixed up in her mind too!). I'm sure other parents remember the first time that they shared God with their children - it's very very sweet and special. We are deeply appreciative of God's blessings this year as we see Christmas through our daughter's eyes.
OK, I left a Link to a serious Christmas happening, but here is a story that after a few years to soften has become a funny Christmas story. A couple of years ago, Christmas fell on Sunday. Of course, my children wanted to make sure we got up plenty early to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, to open presents, and to eat birthday cake before church, so it was early when they woke us up. My husband is the pastor of a small church, so of course my family sits second row piano side of the church. Well, during the service, my youngest falls asleep in my arms. This would be no big deal if she were smaller, but she was about 6 years old at the time. Picture this, I'm sitting in the front of the church, I'm doing my best to hold my daughter in my arms, and my purse is sitting on the floor underneath the pew in front of me. We bow our heads in prayer and low and behold I had forgotten to turn my cell phone off. It starts ringing (sounding twice as loud as I’ve ever heard it ring before), and I could do nothing. I had this sleeping child (who felt like a full grown elephant to try and reach around), so I tried stomping my purse. I stomped and stomped trying to get the stupid thing to turn off. My 10 year old son tries to help me, but couldn’t get to it in time. Finally it stopped ringing. About the time I let my breath out, my cell phone starts beeping, alerting me I have a voice mail. I was so mortified!
This happened about ten years ago.
My brother and I went to go cut down a Christmas tree. It was rainy and cold and by the time we picked out the tree it was pitch dark. The tree we liked was standing on a hill so we couldn't quite judge how big it was. Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to cut it down, the farm was closing so we decided to go pick it up the next day.
We got home and later that night my brother decided he was going to go back and get the tree! When he finally got it home, it was snowing and I noticed the tree was way bigger than his car (which was a boat already). After getting it in the house and in the stand (don't know how we did that) we sat back and took it all in. We sat there and laughed for a good 10 minutes on how ridiculous the thing looked, it took up our entire living room!
Growing up, Christmas was not really celebrated in our home. As a teenager, we started to get presents, but didn't really look at it as the birth of Christ. As I have gotten older, I thought what difference does it make if it is the exact day or not! We are celebrating the birth of the greatest gift given to earth!!! The birth of our Saviour!! I get excited about Christmas and love the feeling that comes with it....love, joy and peace. God is so good to us! I am so thankful that He sent His Son to be born in a manger! What a gift to us!!
Thank you!
Well, I grew up pretty poor and on a farm. Often my parents, and apparently Santa, would recycle boxes in order to wrap the presents in. When you're 5 you can't really understand this concept.
I had asked Santa for some Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader white kick boots - oh yeah! (This was back in the Tom Landry days) On Christmas I tear through the few packages I had under the tree - I was on a mission!
I get a big box, a man's work boot box, but all I see is boots. "Boots, boots! I've always wanted boots!" I cry with glee....until I lift the lid....inside was a ugly jewelry box from my grandma.
I eventually got over the disappointment, but now every Christmas when someone gets a mixmatch gift and box i hear "Boots, boots! I always wanted boots!" What is family for, if not to rub it in!
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