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Can't Buy Me Love
Oct
23
Written by:
10/23/2008 12:37 PM
Ahh, fall! My favorite time of the year is here with cozy fires, apple pies, hot chocolate and warm sweaters. It’s time to put away the motorcycle for the season, and start shopping for ice scrapers and sidewalk salt! It also means thinking of the Christmas season and praying for wisdom of what the Worship Gatherings will look like this year at NVM.
I tend to panic for a moment because my mind switches directly to the fact that fall will soon be over and the Holiday Season will soon be approaching and it usually comes with stress. Face it, after Halloween comes Thanksgiving and then BAM its Christmas! Outside of my job there is shopping for gifts, planning for parties, keeping family traditions, figuring out the cash flow or lack there of. Speaking of cash flow, what is the most priceless gift you could ever receive? Literally priceless? For me, its love and that is something money can’t buy.
In our marriage, some of the best gifts my husband ever gave me:
- Dinner waiting for me when I got home
- An unexpected love note
- A piece of chocolate by my computer or my pillow waiting for me by surprise
Some of the best gifts my kids ever gave me:
- Free coupons for me to redeem for jobs around the house
- Hand made cards and pictures
- Breakfast in bed
The best gifts God has given me:
- His unconditional love
- The gift of forgiveness from all the “stunts” I pull in my life
- The freedom to live forever in eternity with him
- The promise from John 3:16, For God so loved the world, he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but live have everlasting life
Money can’t buy me that kind of love. What if for Christmas this year we didn’t buy gifts with money but gave gifts from the heart? Hmmmmm……. (My husband is probably jumping for joy.)
I am seriously giving thought to doing Christmas different this year because I am a planner.
Last year, our family started a brand new tradition. We got in our PJ’s, filled travel mugs with hot chocolate, and drove around in our car looking at the lights while singing on the top of our lungs to Christmas songs! It is something we intend to repeat again this year. I can guarantee you in 10 years if we look back at Christmas 2008, we won’t remember the gifts we received, but the memories we made with each other. I plan to give more gifts from the heart this year than from my checkbook. (My kids are probably gagging right about now!) It is an adjustment to make in a consumer driven economy and it takes more time to plan. However, the gift of love is something money can’t buy and the memories are priceless.
What about you? What are some of your fondest Christmas memories stored in your heart? Are you looking to do Christmas different this year in any way? What are your plans? Maybe we can get some great ideas from each other!! I look forward to hearing back from you…….
13 comment(s) so far...
Re: Thoughts from October 22
I think about doing something like that every year (gifts that don't cost anything but have a deeper meaning) but then I get caught up in the materialism and end up buying way more than I intended. I'd love to hear other ideas, too!
By anonymous on
10/23/2008 1:02 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
just reading your new tradition from last year took me back to my childhood memories!! How true it is that most of my memories are of traveling down to Indiana to visit family....the smell of my grandma's house, the Werner Christmas party, and playing cards at the Hotel my Grandparents stayed at. I remember alot of the gifts I recieved but don't remember the feeling I got when I saw them.....what I do remember is the excitment I felt counting down the days before we left for Indiana.....the cups my brother made for us (I still have those), playing Christmas songs while packing up the car!!!! Good times Good times. I can't wait for my girls to understand and look forward to the traditions we hold and the understanding of what Christmas is truely about!!!! and ............I do look forward to the looks on their faces when they come down Christmas morning and see the gifts waiting for them under the tree!!!!!!
By Mary on
10/23/2008 2:17 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
My fondest memory was a Christmas Eve - we were snowed in and couldn't get to Christmas Eve Service. So, my husband my children and I had our own Christmas Eve Service at home. My daughter a beginner piano player, plunked out Silent Night. She and my son read about the birth of Jesus, from the bible. My youngest daughter, sat next to them with a cloth on her head, holding a doll, playing Mary with baby Jesus. I will never forget that beautiful Christmas Eve!
By anonymous "too" on
10/23/2008 2:41 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
Hi, I am the daughter that she is refering too... and YES I AM ABOUT GAGGING RIGHT NOW!!! I do like gifts... and gifts from the heart are good... but gifts from the checkbook are better! LOL haha. Our family tradition is very fun and everyone should try it. We even went to a friends house and sang a Christmas carol. GOOD TIMES!!! Can't wait for Christmas but not looking forward to the snow... i would like to keep my flip flops and shorts out for as long as i can!!! hahahaha.
By Ashley Willis on
10/23/2008 2:50 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
Tammy, you hit it on the head! Do you have room in your car for 4 more? And, to Ashley, I have a bounced check fee from my checkbook that occurred few years ago that I would gladly give to you...I am so excited you would prefer that than a night of rock band with some yoddling.
By smeff1776 on
10/24/2008 8:58 AM
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Re: Tammy's blog
Well, i would most definatly LOVE a night of rock banding with my yoddling peeps!!! I'm just saying...
By Ashley on
10/24/2008 11:34 AM
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Re: Tammy's blog
I just received news that the financial crunch is severely affecting some close family members and therefore they will have to abstain from buying Christmas gifts this year. While I don't like that they are feeling that burden, I have to say there is a silver lining. How many times do you hear people complaining about how Christmas has become too commercialized? If we are not ABLE to buy gifts, we are forced to find other ways to celebrate. That's not a bad thing, in my book.
By kstone68 on
10/24/2008 12:17 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
I agree, rockbanding with my peeps is fun !!!
By Preston on
10/28/2008 12:31 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
GO ROCKBAND!!!!
By Ashley on
10/29/2008 2:35 PM
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Re: Tammy's blog
Hi people, I am the son of this blogger and I too, like my sister, am GAGGING! But, I hope that we are going to be able to keep our family traditions going and that I can pass it on to my kids later in life. Even though gifts from the checkbook are good...(you bet they are!!! oh wait SHHH!) gifts from the heart are better. Because you can grow out of checkbook gifts but the hearts gifts stay with you forever and ever and ever and ever and you get my point.... so even though money seems to get happiness, memories are something to look back on. Then it is fun to find new ones later on. Merry (early) Christmas!!!
By Preston on
11/3/2008 7:44 PM
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Re: Can't Buy Me Love
My favorite memories of Christmas were the laughter, the food, and helping each other out. You don't need money for those memories (gifts) either I guess.
By someone dropping in on
11/4/2008 10:37 AM
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Re: Can't Buy Me Love
My favorite Christmas memories as a child was the family get togethers! I am the youngest of 7 kids and my oldest brother is 20 years older than me so our house was always filled with many generations and I even became an Aunt when I was 4! With that said, our house was always loud at Christmas and the dinners were filled with laughing, talking, babies crying and lots of kids running around. After dinner we would always get our guitars out and sing. My dad would sing and I would always laugh at his "old-fashioned" style of music but he sang with such passion! My brother would sing and play his guitar to old country songs and Christmas songs. I always thought he was a super star! I would chime in and sing too and try to harmonize with my brother. After, we would always have banana cream pie or apple pie. By that time my younger nieces and nephews were all over tired, wired on sugar and would turn into hiper little monkeys, yet that was Christmas! Good Times! Good Times!
By Tammy on
11/7/2008 10:39 PM
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Re: Can't Buy Me Love
Hyper little monkeys... HAHAHA
By Ashley on
11/25/2008 9:20 AM
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