My sweet hubby went out the other day and bought one of my wish-list items and gave them to me for Christmas early...Ugg Boots to wear around the house! My feet were freezing all the time (we have all wood floors and tile with rugs). Now my feet are SO cozy and warm! I'd enjoy a massage gift certificate. My neck and shoulders are always sore (due to injuries from past car accidents). One thing I would really like to have (and can't really afford right now) is a good treadmill. I'd like to be able to use it while the kids are having their breaks or playing or whatever. My ultimate 'dream' want is for our family to take a trip to Australia where my husband is from. We live in the States, and our boys haven't even got to meet most of their Aussie family.
You know, I think I'd like a day at Kenneth's or some such place, but I'd rather to do it with one of my girlfriends. Maybe Kris can pick us all up on her pink jet, and we could all spend a day at a spa, sitting around the pool, drinking little drinks with umbrellas in them, having facials and massages, while the guys hold down things at home!!!
I already got mine! A new digital camera! I got it because it was birthday/Christmas, and my birthday was in October. My dream gift is for Mrs. Doubtfire to come for a few days while I get some stuff organized!
Dream gifts...enough money to pay off all our debt, a vacation in a tropical location WITHOUT kids, and a bigger house. Not too big, just an extra bedroom, extra bathroom, and maybe another 500 sq feet of living space. We live under 1000 square feet right now, with the 2 kids, 2 cats, and dog....it's a little cramped. Realistic/kind of realistic gifts...new slippers, $ for some new dress clothes, gift card to a restaurant, new tv for the living room (42' flat screen HDTV...hehe), $ to re-do our bedroom (paint, new comforter, etc.)
I want to be out of debt so my husband can quit his second job and so I don't have to do daycare and I want to be pregnant (as long as I'm wishing for the moon.) :angel:
Enough money to be out of debt would be nice!! It's something we're working on, but it's SLOWLY going away!
My Christmas gift is already bought, though I can't use it until Christmas... new photography studio lights!
Aww...Sommer, that teared me up! Fun question! Let's see... Dream gift: a cruise on the Enterprise. I have always wanted to travel outer space. Don't really want to go to another planet, but how cool would it be to just go up there and ride around and look out the window, and meet all those two legged aliens who happen to breathe oxygen and speak English. No I am not a Star Trek Geek, but I always thought that would be cool. Gift I wished for: Told DS a couple months ago the only thing I want is the book Resilience, by Alonzo Mourning. We LOVE this guy and his testimony and I can't wait to read it. Gift I get: Unfortunately I need tires. So I will get those along with the dreadful payments. Merry Christmas! Miller
I grew up very poor. Somehow my mom always pulled off a little Christmas magic. I'm sure most of it came from "Angel Trees" and the like, but I still remember how magical it all seemed to be. Now I'm the mommy who struggles financially, esp this time of year. Hubby works his butt off, but this time of year it just doesn't seem to either of us like it's enough. We refuse to ask for any help, and maybe we should, but we feel that we have a roof over our heads, food in our stomachs (even if it is hot dogs and mac and cheese), and clothes on our backs, and that it's not right to ask for extras... if we didn't have the 3 basic things, and they were what we were asking for, then I could see the point. We try so hard to pull off a Christmas that is magic.. after all Santa doesn't rely on money.
I'm going to give the future Miss America answer "I want World Peace" I want to get rid of all the clutter and junk in my life. I want to be organized and a better parent. I can't think of one physical thing I want or need! I guess that does sound weird. I want to enjoy my children on Christmas Day. I want the Nativity Play this Friday at the nursing home to go well. And I want our little adopted Grandpa from the nursing home to love his gift and feel loved and needed in this world. I want to see my children witness the joy of giving, and that it really IS better to give than receive. And that giving joy to another person makes you feel so joyful yourself and mere possessions cannot do that for you. Big order, not sure Santa's up to the challenge!!!
Well, what I ask for every year - and dh complies with - is a new book to read and chocolate in my stocking. What I dream for is that the mortgage company with actually work with us and not proceed with the foreclosure.
I saw this story the other day: Brown Bag Christmas Story When I asked our newlywed Sunday School class to share a favorite Christmas story, Carrie Fuller said, "Our family has one we call the 'brown bag Christmas.'" When she finished, I had to hear more. Two days later, I called a member of her family for more details. It was the early 1930s during the Dust Bowl days of Kansas, in the heart of the Depression. The Canaday family---Mom, Dad, 7 children---were having a tough time existing, so there would be no luxuries at Christmas that year. Mom told the children to go outside and find a Christmas tree and decorate it. After a lengthy search, they returned with a dead branch, the only thing they had been able to find. They stood it up in a bucket of sand and decorated it with pieces of paper tied with string. Little Judy, almost four, did not know how a Christmas tree was supposed to look, but somehow she knew it was not like that! As Christmas approached, the Canaday children, like children everywhere, pestered Mom and Dad about what presents they might get under their "tree." Dad pointed out that the pantry was bare, that they did not have enough to live on, and there certainly would be no money for gifts. But Mom was a woman of faith and told her children, "Say your prayers. Ask God to send us what He wants us to have." Dad said, "Now, Mother, don't be getting the children's hopes up. You're just setting them up for a disappointment." Mom said, "Pray, children. Tell Jesus." And pray they did. On Christmas Eve, the children watched out the window for visitors, but no one came. "Blow out the lamp and go to bed", Dad said. "Nobody is going to come. No one even knows we're out here." The children turned out the lamp and got in bed, but they were too excited to sleep. Was this not Christmas? Had they not asked God to send them the presents He wanted them to have? Did Mom not say God answers prayer? Late that night, when one of the children spotted headlights coming down the dirt road, everyone jumped out of bed and ran to the window. The commotion woke up Mom and Dad. "Don't get excited, children," Dad said. "They're probably not coming here. It's just someone who got lost." The children kept hoping and the car kept coming. Then, Dad lit a lamp. They all wanted to rush to the door at the same time, but Mr. Canaday said, "Stay back. I'll go." Someone got out of the car and called, "I was wondering if someone here can help me unload these bags." The children dashed out the door to lend a hand. Mom said to her youngest, "Stay here, Judy, and help Mom open the bags and put up the gifts." A deacon from the church in town had gone to bed that Christmas Eve, and lay there tossing and turning, unable to get the Canaday family off his mind. Later, he said, "I didn't know what kind of shape you folks were in, but I knew you had all those kids." He had gotten up and dressed and went around town, rousing people from their sleep to ask for a contribution for the Canaday family. He filled his car with bags of groceries, canned goods, toys, and clothing. Little Judy got a rag doll which remained her favorite for years. With so much food, Dad wanted to have a Christmas feast, to spread it all out and eat as they had never eaten before. Mom, ever the caretaker, said, "No, we need to make this last." And it did last, for weeks. The next Sunday, Mrs. Canaday stood in church and told what the members---and one deacon in particular---had done for her family. There was not a dry eye in the house. Years later, the oldest sister Eva wrote up this story about her family for a school project. Eva said, "We were so thrilled by all the wonderful things in the bags, for a while ;we lost sight of the most special gift. The best gift that Christmas was not in brown bags at all. It was Mom's faith, as she taught her children to bring their needs to Jesus and trust Him to meet them. And a Dad's love that wanted only to protect his children from hurt and disappointment." When Carrie finished telling her story, she added, "Little Judy is my wonderful grandmother." Today, Judy Canaday Dryden lives in Sanger, Texas. As she relived this event from seventy years ago over the phone, one could hear the tear in her voice and feel her pride in being the recipient of such a precious heritage from her mother and father. At Christmas, we celebrate praying mothers and caring fathers and believing children. We give thanks for sensitive deacons and generous friends and sleepless nights. And we praise God for the hard times that teach unforgettable lessons, stories of faithfulness that get told and retold through the years inspiring each new generation to place their faith in a loving Savior.
incase you couldn't read the read script above: Brown Bag Christmas Story When I asked our newlywed Sunday School class to share a favorite Christmas story, Carrie Fuller said, "Our family has one we call the 'brown bag Christmas.'" When she finished, I had to hear more. Two days later, I called a member of her family for more details. It was the early 1930s during the Dust Bowl days of Kansas, in the heart of the Depression. The Canaday family---Mom, Dad, 7 children---were having a tough time existing, so there would be no luxuries at Christmas that year. Mom told the children to go outside and find a Christmas tree and decorate it. After a lengthy search, they returned with a dead branch, the only thing they had been able to find. They stood it up in a bucket of sand and decorated it with pieces of paper tied with string. Little Judy, almost four, did not know how a Christmas tree was supposed to look, but somehow she knew it was not like that! As Christmas approached, the Canaday children, like children everywhere, pestered Mom and Dad about what presents they might get under their "tree." Dad pointed out that the pantry was bare, that they did not have enough to live on, and there certainly would be no money for gifts. But Mom was a woman of faith and told her children, "Say your prayers. Ask God to send us what He wants us to have." Dad said, "Now, Mother, don't be getting the children's hopes up. You're just setting them up for a disappointment." Mom said, "Pray, children. Tell Jesus." And pray they did. On Christmas Eve, the children watched out the window for visitors, but no one came. "Blow out the lamp and go to bed", Dad said. "Nobody is going to come. No one even knows we're out here." The children turned out the lamp and got in bed, but they were too excited to sleep. Was this not Christmas? Had they not asked God to send them the presents He wanted them to have? Did Mom not say God answers prayer? Late that night, when one of the children spotted headlights coming down the dirt road, everyone jumped out of bed and ran to the window. The commotion woke up Mom and Dad. "Don't get excited, children," Dad said. "They're probably not coming here. It's just someone who got lost." The children kept hoping and the car kept coming. Then, Dad lit a lamp. They all wanted to rush to the door at the same time, but Mr. Canaday said, "Stay back. I'll go." Someone got out of the car and called, "I was wondering if someone here can help me unload these bags." The children dashed out the door to lend a hand. Mom said to her youngest, "Stay here, Judy, and help Mom open the bags and put up the gifts." A deacon from the church in town had gone to bed that Christmas Eve, and lay there tossing and turning, unable to get the Canaday family off his mind. Later, he said, "I didn't know what kind of shape you folks were in, but I knew you had all those kids." He had gotten up and dressed and went around town, rousing people from their sleep to ask for a contribution for the Canaday family. He filled his car with bags of groceries, canned goods, toys, and clothing. Little Judy got a rag doll which remained her favorite for years. With so much food, Dad wanted to have a Christmas feast, to spread it all out and eat as they had never eaten before. Mom, ever the caretaker, said, "No, we need to make this last." And it did last, for weeks. The next Sunday, Mrs. Canaday stood in church and told what the members---and one deacon in particular---had done for her family. There was not a dry eye in the house. Years later, the oldest sister Eva wrote up this story about her family for a school project. Eva said, "We were so thrilled by all the wonderful things in the bags, for a while ;we lost sight of the most special gift. The best gift that Christmas was not in brown bags at all. It was Mom's faith, as she taught her children to bring their needs to Jesus and trust Him to meet them. And a Dad's love that wanted only to protect his children from hurt and disappointment." When Carrie finished telling her story, she added, "Little Judy is my wonderful grandmother." Today, Judy Canaday Dryden lives in Sanger, Texas. As she relived this event from seventy years ago over the phone, one could hear the tear in her voice and feel her pride in being the recipient of such a precious heritage from her mother and father. At Christmas, we celebrate praying mothers and caring fathers and believing children. We give thanks for sensitive deacons and generous friends and sleepless nights. And we praise God for the hard times that teach unforgettable lessons, stories of faithfulness that get told and retold through the years inspiring each new generation to place their faith in a loving Savior.
