Christmas and Writing by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful, Joyful, and triumphant, oh come ye, o come ye to Bethlehem!

Sorry, I couldn’t help it, this is one of my all-time favorite hymns, along with Hark the Harold  Angels Sing, and Silent Night. Yeah, if you didn’t already know, one of my very favorite holidays is coming up this week.

Though I guess you could figure that out just by entering my living room. I have over 130 Nativities on display in the front room alone, and that’s without counting the Nativities ornaments on my tree.

I might also point out that I have no snowmen decorations, and only three “Santa at the manger” decorations, but no other Santa-themed decorations. Is it any wonder that most of my tree decorations are Nativities? (By the way, this is by choice.)

Then again, if you were to enter my living room you might also be able to decern what my second favorite holiday is. The clue is in the middle of the top shelf of the small bookcase by my microwave cart. An Eagle, two Star-Spangled Banner-themed knickknacks, and a replica Liberty Bell.

Figured it out yet?

Another clue is my all-time favorite song from a musical.

That song?

Why it’s, “God Bless America!” from “You’re In The Army Now.”

Other favorite songs are “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless the USA.”

And no, my love for Independence Day has little to do with its proximity to my own birthday, though I do enjoy that they are so close together.

I love Independence Day because it celebrates the birth of our great nation just as much as I love Christmas because it celebrates the birth of our Redeemer.

I also like Easter (it does celebrate our Redeemer’s resurrection) and Thanksgiving, though I admit that it is at the bottom of my favorite list, mostly because I feel it is better to be thankful every day of the year, not just one. I do enjoy the food and being with family but that is about it.

Independence Day has parades, picnics, and fireworks, and Christmas – well, I love finding just the right gift for my loved ones. Though some are easier to shop for, that’s another issue.

When thinking about holidays, have you considered what your characters do for holidays?

If you are in fantasy or sci-fi you must consider if they have any, and what and when they’d be, and how they celebrate, but in Contemporary novels, you already know what the holidays are, now you need to decide how your characters observe the occasion, and why.

First, you should start with whether your story will cover a period when there is a holiday.

And, since it is so close, let’s just use this time of year as an example.

This time of year, has several different religious or cultural celebrations to choose from, and of course New Year’s Eve, so what festivities will your character take part in, and why? What sort of traditions does your character have for this holiday?

Do they open gifts on Christmas Eve? Or do they celebrate Hanukkah? Are some of their friends Jewish? And there are other celebrations going on around now, too. What are they? How are they celebrated? What are those traditions?

Don’t use one you know nothing about. In this case, you really must write what you know.

So, for me, if I were to write something taking place in December, my main characters are going to celebrate Christmas.

Of course, being one to celebrate Christmas can mean a lot of different things. Some focus on Santa and all the giving and receiving of gifts, others (like me) put little energy into Santa and focus on Christ. Either way, there can be a large variety of traditions for someone to follow.

Some open gifts on Christmas Eve, while others read from the second chapter of Luke on Christmas Eve. Some make candy and cookies in preparation for the big day, while others just buy all the seasonal favorites.

And for that matter, what are your character’s seasonal favorites?

Some people like fruitcake while others loth it. What about your character? Some attend church, but only on this special occasion, while others attend year-round. Some participate in pageants and shows, while others avoid them. Where does your character fall?

For that matter, are there other holidays in your story? I have one story that includes Easter break from school, and April Fools Day. Though my main characters only get annoyed at all the pranks people are pulling, but don’t pull any of their own. How would your character act?

Something to consider, isn’t it?

Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Writing everyone!

It’s less than a week before Christmas, and I don’t have all my presents wrapped. I don’t even have all of them! And I think a couple will be late. While Konnie on the other hand was pretty much finished with her Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. (She actually sent me my Christmas presents when she sent me my birthday present back in July!)

Yeah, we’re quite different.

As far as Christmas trees go, the last I heard, her tree had been up for years, as in never taken down, while over here people think I’ve decorated for Christmas when my tree isn’t even up!

Okay, I admit it, I have well over a hundred Nativities in my front room alone. Needless to say, they are out all year long.

And that isn’t to say I have no other knickknacks in my apartment. I have owls and eagles, and few other religious statues including one of Noah and the Ark. I just have a much larger collection of Nativities.

And if you’re asking, Konnie collects Christmas villages and Barbies. (Okay, yes, I have Barbie’s too, we started that collection together as kids, but she has way more nowadays.)

I, on the other hand, have never really cared for those Christmas villages. I mean I’d look at them in the stores, but never interested enough to buy any, until I learned Konnie likes them.

Though giving and getting gifts isn’t the important part about Christmas, neither are all the trees and lights. The important part is that tiny babe in the manager.

I remember as a kid going downtown for Christmas shopping, and I noticed several stores had “Merry X-Mas!” painted on their windows. My first thought was about how our big sister (affectionately nicknamed Dictionary) taught me how to spell Christmas.

She asked me to spell Christ, which I did, then she asked me to spell “mass”, which I also did. Finally, she said, “Now put them together, but drop the last 's'.”

I have never misspelled the word since! But on seeing those signs saying “X-Mas” I said, “They’re taking the Christ out of Christmas!”

It was so wrong! It’s still so wrong!

I hate to see that, drives me nuts.

It doesn’t bother me when someone says, “Happy Holidays!” because I know there are several other holidays around this time. And it is a time to be happy, no matter what holiday you celebrate. That’s no big deal, but taking the Christ out of Christmas, that’s huge and unacceptable.

Not too long ago, I went to talk with my bishop (my pastor if you will), it was the usual annual chat every bishop does with every member of their ward (congregation), but well, he is a new bishop, and so it was a get to know you kind of chat this year, and at some point, he asked if I’d decorated for Christmas yet.

“No, but you might think so if you entered my living room. Everybody does,” I said, then explained about my collection.

He beamed, “At least your focus is in the right place.”

Yeah. It’s kind of hard to forget the reason for the season when the reason for the season decorates my little apartment all year long.

And I know this last year has been hard on a lot of people, COVID, the shutdowns, everything, it's been a pain, and I see a lot of people who are having trouble finding the Christmas spirit. Not a whole lot of places are decorated, and I know plenty of people are still struggling.

I’m sure, if we didn’t have to wear those darn masks all the time, I’d see a lot of frowns. I do see a lot of slumped shoulders and listless walking.

Not a lot of people saying “Merry Christmas,” or “Happy Holidays,” these days.

My sister-in-law said it best when she told me, “It didn’t feel like Christmas.”

And she said that with snow on the ground!

She was equating Christmas with trees, lights, brightly wrapped presents, and all the commercial dressings of the season.

That isn’t Christmas.

Christmas is that babe in the manager who grew up to be that man suffering in Gethsemane and on Calgary. Christmas is about celebrating the love Heavenly Father has for everyone by sacrificing his Only Begotten Son to save us all.

Christmas is as much about the Atonement as Easter is because without Christmas, there would be no Easter!

Without the gift of His Only Son, we wouldn’t have either holiday.

So, Christmas isn’t about Santa and gifts any more than Easter is about the Easter Bunny! And it isn’t about the anticipation of opening gifts on Christmas morning, it's about what we’ve already been given.

Anyway, happy writing everyone, and Merry Christmas! 

Jacki and Christmas by Bonnie Le Hamilton

Christmas is exactly one week away, and this week I’ve been thinking a lot about the kids in the above picture. Mostly about the girl in the bottom left corner. Jacki, better known as Dictionary. I’ve mentioned her before, but what I’ve been remembering about her has something to do with the coming holiday.

I know I’ve told the story of when she taught me to spell brother. That’s one story still talked about in the family all the time, but this one isn’t so funny, just profound.

Jacki taught me how to spell a lot of words actually, but the one that means the most to me is Christmas. I was having as much trouble with that one as I was having with spelling brother then she looked at me and said, “Can you spell Christ?”

I nodded and spelled, “C – H – R – I – S – T.”

“Good. Now spell mass.”

“M – A – S – S.”

“Okay, now drop an ‘S’ and put them together.”

“C – H – R – I – S – T – M – A – S.”

“You just spelled Christmas!”

All this came clearly to my mind on Sunday when one of the speakers at church mentioned that Christmas stands for Christ’s Mass, a time to celebrate and worship Christ in the ancient Catholic church.

In other words, Christmas is all about Christ, which reminds me of another event that happened several years after I learned how to spell Christmas. I was around thirteen or fourteen when I noticed a sign painted in a shop for the holiday season, but it didn’t say, “Merry Christmas!” it said, “Merry X-mas!”

It appalled me. It still does, because it’s taking Christ out of Christmas! This is so wrong. 

The above is just one picture of my living room, its a few years old, but I can tell you it wasn't Christmas when I took it.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but when I was in that accident a couple years ago, a couple friends came to my place to give me a blessing. One of the two friends had been to my place before, he knew about my collection, the other hadn’t. When he walked into my apartment, he said, “Oh, you’ve already decorated for Christmas!”

It was in early November and my tree wasn’t up yet. My Nativities were all over, as they are year-round, but that’s because I don’t want to worship my Savior just at Christmas or Easter, I want to worship him every day of the week.

Frankly, I never understood why people only display their Nativities at this time of year. Why limit it? Does that mean you only worship him at this time of year, but not the rest of the year?

And then there are all those decorations people put up at Easter. I don’t get those. The only décor I’ve seen at that time of year that actually has to do with Christ is the cross, something we don’t use in our faith, but everything else has to do with the Easter bunny, colored eggs, and candy.

Then again, the majority of the décor for this time of year has to do with snowmen, Santa, reindeer, Christmas stockings, toys, and candy. None of it has anything to do with the original intent of either holiday. They have become commercial opportunities and possibly some time off, but little else.

And what of the rest of the year?

This makes me think of the people who only show up at church at this time of year. Growing up, I always participated in the midnight services at the Lutheran church I grew up attending until I converted, and every year as the children’s choir paraded into the sanctuary, I was always surprised at how full the pews were. Way more people than normally showed up at the regular Sunday Services.

And the thing is I still see it. People who only show up at church for special occasions. I admit, in my church, it is often because all the extras are family who are visiting for the holiday or a special family event, but there are still a few who should attend our “congregation” every week, and don’t.

Then again, Jesus Christ never said attending church every week makes you righteous, nor did he say decorating our homes for Christmas or Easter makes you a devout member. In fact, its more the opposite. He doesn’t want us to worship him only a few days out of the year. He wants us to worship him twenty-four/seven, 365 days a year.

So, I guess it doesn’t matter if someone spells it X-Mass or Christmas, what matters is if your focus is on the presents under the tree or the babe in a manager.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

And Happy Writing.

Traditions by Konnie Enos

Last week sometime I got into a conversation with one of my daughters who brought up family traditions and asked me if we practiced any traditions from my family during this season.

“No.”

That’s the simple answer.

Yes, like most Christians today we put up a tree and hang stockings. We buy gifts to exchange with our loved ones. And yes, Santa still comes to visit.

We did all that growing up.

Things we didn’t do?

We never really did an advent calendar. The closest we came was those chains they’d have us make at school and more than half the time we’d forget to remove the links and have to count the days remaining anyway.

I don’t remember my mother ever sitting down with us on Christmas Eve and reading us the First Christmas story out of Luke. In fact, I can’t think of a time my father did it with us, though it’s far more likely that he did.

I can remember my step-mother reading Twas the Night Before Christmas to us, but I’m not sure it was on Christmas Eve and I’m certain it wasn’t a yearly thing.

I do remember doing some traditional things growing up.

I remember one year, with our mother, doing an advent wreath.

I remember our step-mother’s near nightly “tricks” to keep the little ones believing “elves” were watching them. Believe me when I say it’s far more pleasant to wake up to find a piece or two of candy in your shoes than to find peanut shells in them. And mind you, this was in the Eighties, long before Elf on a Shelf was invented.

As I’ve thought about, I could come up with only one thing that has become a tradition in our family. I even know where it got started.

I learned a long time ago how to wrap most anything, neat and tight. But the most important thing I learned to do was to tape. Every. Single. Seam. Why do we tape them so well?

Our super snoop brother.

I think he was about three when he started successfully finding any and all hidden “Santa” gifts weeks before the actual event and telling his three big sisters exactly what they were getting from the “big guy”, who, he informed us, had to be our mother.

I think we eventually convinced him we didn’t want the surprise spoiled but it was always obvious he was still very much into finding out what the gifts were long before the event.

Once, our mother curbed this tendency by hiding our gifts at someone else’s place. Our step-mother taught us how to wrap gifts tightly, sealing every seam, so he couldn’t peak without it being obvious. She also came up with the ingenious idea to mislabel all our brother’s gifts one year, though clearly identifying them by using a special type of tag, so that he’d think none of the gifts were for him. That year he was surprised to find anything under the tree for him.

And yes, I still wrap like this. I’m sure Bonnie does too and I think I’ve passed it on to my children if the way the gifts we got from my oldest daughter this year were wrapped is any indication.

As we were unwrapping my youngest son quipped. “Mom must have wrapped this, there isn’t any seams.”

Most of his gifts were wrapped by his sisters and his aunt. I only wrapped one of them, and to be honest nearly every gift I opened had the seams well covered.

The only real tradition is as a family we try to read the First Christmas story out of Luke and I read Twas the Night Before Christmas to them. One year I read it five times, because they were at their aunt’s and I ended up being unable to get there, and their aunt didn’t have a speaker phone.

Thanks to speaker phones, this year, I read it to all my children, and my son-in-law, in just one reading.

Of course, because our oldest is expecting, we’ve talked about traditions and which ones to carry on and even what to change. She and her husband are discussing which things they grew up with that they will continue with their children and which ones they won’t.

Though, considering how much she loves hearing the story each year, and the fact she already owns the book, I’m sure the tradition of reading Twas the Night Before Christmas along with the story in Luke, will continue with her family.

As I finish writing this, my thoughts go to friends who have lost loved ones this week. Paul, you and yours are in my prayer.

Everyone, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year. Also happy birthday to my wonderful son-in-law.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

My Christmas Memory by Konnie Enos

The sun peeking over the horizon added light to the room but not to my thoughts as I realized it was now Christmas Eve. I’d been up for at least 24 hours and the task wasn’t done yet. I was exhausted and more than frustrated with family members whose idea of helping was taking our three school aged girls off our hands while we got the work done. They however had no problem with leaving our two boys with us to deal with while we tried to work. They were both toddlers in diapers.

So while I struggled to help, or keep the boys out from underfoot, my husband strived to get the work done and it wasn’t getting done fast enough. We should have been on the road already. All things considered as the sun dawned bright and clear that Christmas Eve I was short tempered and decidedly not in the Christmas spirit.

After spending the morning attempting to keep the boys out of my husband’s way and finally taking a short break for lunch my husband said he was going to get his friend, who had a truck, to help him haul the garbage to the dump. Then he could finish cleaning the place out. When he was finished we could finally leave, possibly by dinner time, a full 24 hours after we’d originally planned.

As he walked out he said, “Put the boys down and take a nap.”

“Good idea.” It was naptime. I set to work trying to get them to settle down on a couple of blanket on the hardwood floor in the living room while I stretched out on the lone remaining piece of furniture, an old recliner. I was still fighting the boys when my husband and his friend returned.

Our friend pointed to the recliner. “What about that? Is it going to?”

My husband said, “Yes.”

I said, “No way. This is in the last load. You are not taking the only place I have left to rest while I need sleep.”

My husband actually pulled me out of the chair. “We’re only taking one load. It’s going now.”

I fought him. “I can’t sleep on the floor.”

Our friend said, “You’re going to my place.”

In minutes they had me and our boys at his house. His wife tucked our toddlers down with their own kids, a toddler and infant, and had me lie down on their couch while telling their other kids to keep quiet so people could sleep.

 Over the next several hours I woke up several times. My husband and our friend brought our girls back from their aunt’s place, and that old recliner. A neighbor came around with gifts for the poor families in the neighborhood and learning our family was there as well left the gifts meant for us too.

Around dinner time my husband and our friend returned saying the cleaning was finally finished but our friends would not hear of us leaving on Christmas Eve.

This couple fed and found places for seven extra people to sleep warm and comfortably on Christmas Eve, made Christmas stockings for everyone and retagged gifts a couple of gifts, I assume intended for them, so my husband and I could have something under the tree. They also insisted we join them for their Christmas feast before they would send us on our way. The only thing I could do was share the treats I had gathered for our Christmas stockings.

My Christmas went from horrible to one of the most beautiful Christmas memories I have because one family gave freely of what little they had.

Isn’t that what Christmas is all about.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

A Christmas Memory by Bonnie Le Hamilton

This last week there was a post on Facebook about tricking kids into thinking they were getting nothing for Christmas, and one of my little brothers (the middle one) brought up something we once did to the oldest of our brothers.

First you have to understand that Bryon was a snooper. If you hid any gifts in the house, he found them well in advance of the big day, without fail. Our mother tended to hide our gifts at the house of some friend or other. But our stepmother (the mother of the two youngest brothers) came up with another plan one year.

First, you have to know she was really good at wrapping presents. Not just neat, but very well taped. There was no way you could undo just one little corner and sneak a peek. In fact, there was no way to get a peek without having to completely re-wrap the thing. Then she came up with devious plan to make him think all he was getting was a lump of coal for Christmas.

That year, along with using so much tape, she didn’t put his name on any of the tags. I can’t remember how it was that she knew which was which (I think it was the wrapping paper) but he thought he wasn’t getting anything, without us saying so, because of course, he did find where the gifts were hidden, he had searched all those tags for his name to no avail.

On top of that, on Christmas morning all he found in his stocking was a small box designed to look like a red brick chimney and inside that box was a real lump of coal. I remember the look on his face when he pulled that box out of his stocking and looked around at all our stocking filled to bursting with treats then he looked at his box again and apologized for snooping.

Even then our stepmother refused to give him his gifts, and he actual stocking stuffers, until he’d promised to stop snooping.

Here’s hopping Santa is good to all of you! Merry Christmas everyone. 😊

Of the Spirit of Christmas by Konnie Enos

On December 16, 2015 I posted “Tis the Season” about The Spirit of Santa Claus and Christmas. Well, I’m going to revisit the topic. The Spirit of Santa Claus, the true Spirit of Christmas, is giving, not receiving. So in the Spirit of Giving, I’d like to give all my readers something to think about. I want you to focus on the reason for the season.

Focus for just a moment on why we celebrate Christmas.

It’s not trees all lit up with lights and presents stacked under them. It’s not stockings lining the fireplace waiting to be filled. It’s not even big family gatherings or huge dinners.

The reason we celebrate Christmas, is to remember.

Remember what the trees, the wreaths, the lights, the candy canes and the stars represent. Remember why we gather as a family to dine together and exchange gifts. Remember the true reason for the season. Mostly remember the birth that this season is supposed to mark then remember the child born oh so long ago.

Now remember the man as was documented in the New Testament.

The man who healed the sick, lame, blind and deaf. The man who didn’t judge the sinner as beneath him. The man who forgave the woman caught in adultery. Remember the man we celebrate this season for.

If you happen to celebrate Kwanzaa remember the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Christ’s efforts were to bring unity, collective responsibility, cooperation, purpose, creativity, faith and yes, even self-awareness. Remember the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

If you don’t believe in Christ. If you celebrate Hanukkah then think of the miracle of the lights and the reason you celebrate this season. Think of your God and all you are grateful for.

Now if you don’t happen to be Christian. If you don’t happen to believe Christ existed or that he was The Son of God. If you don’t even believe there is an all-powerful god, think of the world you’d rather your children, your grandchild, had the chance to grow up in.

Now that you are all thinking, remembering. Answer one, or both, of these questions. What would Christ do? Or; how can I make this world a better place?

Just think about your answer for few minutes. What can you do to make this would a better place?

Now I have a challenge for all of you. Every last one of you. Do I have your attention?

I challenge you, starting December 1^st through December 25^th to do something every single day to GIVE. Give friendship. Give love. Give kindness. Give your talents. Give your time. Give your understanding. Just GIVE.

To help you with this challenge, as a means to give you ideas each day on how you can give, I challenge you to go to Mormon.org and look at “Light the World” which is twenty-five days of ideas for giving. Admittedly, this is ideas for giving as Christ would give, but they are universal. Make our world a better place. Be the light the world needs right now.

Let’s see if we can’t make this a truly joyous season for all by basking in the true Spirit of the season. The Spirit of Giving. Let’s make this even bigger. I challenge you to pass it on. Pass this on to your friends, your family, and your neighbors. See how just how many people we can get making an effort to “Light the World”.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa and Happy New Year one and all.

(And to those who say “Bah Humbug!” go read Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”.)

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Tis the Season by Konnie Enos

Mormon.org - Light the World

Season’s Greetings by Konnie Enos

Due to the season the debate has raged on all over social media about season’s greetings.

Are you politically correct and wish everyone “Happy Holidays”?

Or do you settle with polite and say whichever greeting you are most comfortable with? I’m not sure how many holidays are between Halloween and New Year’s Day, but I know it’s a lot more than just Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I honestly don’t understand why there is such a debate about it.

If you are a good Christian, and truly follow Christ’s example, then you would accept everyone, no matter their religion. If you are a polite, caring, decent, human being, you’d do the same thing. I’m also sure most, if not all, religions have teachings about being polite to others.

So during this holiday season when so many of us are celebrating one significant festivity or another, why can’t we all just spread good cheer? Why can’t we stop debating about the “proper greeting” and just be kind to one another?

In all honesty, as a Christian woman, I’d be ecstatic if someone greeted me with a hearty Happy Hanukah.

Judy Marcus, a Jewish freelance writer (her blog Opinionated Woman appears on Chicagonow.com Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays) posted, on December 7 of this year, a similar opinion. Basically a friendly greeting is appreciated even if someone says Merry Christmas.

What difference does the greeting make as long as the giver is genuinely sincere in offering it? If no malice is meant, why take offence?

As Ms. Marcus asks in her post, what would Jesus do?

Did he ever once ridicule anyone?

I would think the Christ like thing to do would be to greet everyone with friendship.

Personally, if you tell me Happy Hanukah, I’ll wish you one back. Not because I celebrate it, but because I now know you do and I’d want your holidays to be joyous for you.

The same would go for anyone else.

In my church we have a saying. The truth hurts the guilty. So to me, people who are so easily offended by a simple greeting are the people who are most guilty of not being kind human beings. They are the one passing judgment, (Matthew 7:1-4) quickly pointing out the small ‘mote’ in another’s eye hoping they won’t notice the huge ‘beam’ in their own eye.

If you are going to be offended by a simple greeting, what are you doing wrong?

Christ commanded us to not take offence.

And that is the problem. Far too many people take offence. At every little thing. Even when no offence was intended.

If I were to see Ms. Marcus on the street I would have no way to know, just from looking at her, that she is Jewish, so I could not possibly know to wish her a Happy Hanukah until after she expresses that greeting to me.

So I have a perfect solution for everyone.

Instead of trying to come up with one phrase that pleases everyone, why don’t we just use the ones we already have and everyone just greet everyone else with the one they are most comfortable with. And if you’re comfortable doing so returning the greeting of someone that is different than your own.

So I’ll say to any Jews who might read this, Happy Hanukah.

If you celebrate Kwanzaa, Have a Joyous Kwanzaa.

Whatever your celebration this season, enjoy it.

Merry Christmas.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.

Tis the Season by Konnie Enos

‘Tis the season for annoying commercials and the extreme commercialism that has become this holiday season. Everywhere you look there is another ad for something else you simply have to buy. One recent ad on the air here touted, repeatedly, that this was the season of getting. The entire ad never once said the word give, or at least not that I heard.

What’s the worst part of it is many people blame this get, get, get, give me, give me, give me mentality on The Spirit of Santa Clause. It’s no more The Spirit of Santa Clause than it is The Spirit of Christmas. Santa Clause is about giving, not getting.

   The Spirit of Santa Clause is about giving time and talent to make or find that exactly right gift, that special something for someone you love. It’s about family and time.

In the hustle and bustle of this world too many of us forget why we celebrate Christmas. They focus so completely on what they’d like to receive they barely even think about what they are giving. The Spirit of Santa Clause isn’t just about giving, it’s about giving the right gift.

Stop focusing on how much you’re spending, other than keeping it within your budget, and don’t worry about how many gifts there are. Think about what will really please the person you are getting those gifts for.

One year, with a really tight budget, as usual. I could only get one gift for each of my children. I skimped and saved. I planned. I tried to figure out what each of my kids would love to get, that I could afford. It wasn’t easy because I knew that one of my kids wanted a camera. But with a great deal of effort, I managed to find just the right gift for all of them, including that camera, the most expensive gift I bought that year, and probably ever.

But the right gift doesn’t have to bought, it can be made. In fact, the very best presents are from the heart, handmade especially for the recipient.

Can you draw? Then make a picture.

Do any sort of handcraft? Utilize them.

Do you have a sewing machine and know how to use it? Same thing.

Can you cook? Bake? Know anyone who is away from home this time of year? A box of homemade goodies always pleases.

My daughter does paint by number pictures and frames them for gifts, or counted cross stitch pictures. She’s also knitted baby hats and made necklaces and earrings.

I can crochet, knit, do cross stitch and other handcrafts. I can cook and I write. It’s a simple thing to plan what handcrafts you’ll use to make that one gift for that one person on your list. As a writer, there is nothing wrong with composing a story for your family as a gift. Perhaps you’ll manage to pen the next great best seller. Richard Paul Evans did and The Christmas Box was born.

I’ve made gifts for my children over the years and they still talk about them. I can think of at least twice, if not three times that I’ve written something as a gift.

Personally, I think it’d be a wonderful tradition to make at least some of your gifts each year. But I’d challenge all of you to really think about your giving and who those gifts are for. The best gift for someone who collects Nativities is one they don’t have yet. It’s not that book, movie, game or anything else you can think of that you absolutely adore but they don’t.

So in the true Spirit of Santa Clause and the true spirit of the season, the Christmas season, give from the heart.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.