Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Written by: Peggi Speers

For most everyone I know, it's going to be a Whosville Christmas this year. Some people have lost their homes, business, and/or jobs. Some have had bank credit cards wipe out their personal bank accounts. Some had millions and now have nothing. Fear darts around us like sharks in a frenzy. Tension is high. Budgets are tight.
 
For those of you who are feeling the crunch this Season, step back, take a deep breath, and look at Christmas objectively and without reaction. What were your favorite memories of Christmas? Do you remember all the gifts you did receive every Christmas….or do remember something a little more...

It's the moments that I remember...the split second moments that freeze in my mind forever like the look of my mother's face as she sung Christmas carols and the sound of her beautiful voice echoing throughout the house! I love the jokes my sisters and brother-in-laws bark out and the roll of laughter that follows.  I love seeing my cousins and friends and catching up on the last year of their lives. I savor each moment!

Happiness is truly a series of happy moments.  Most of us don’t remember the whole of our lives, but we do remember the snapshots..... the special moments that can be life defining.

So why not think out of the box this Christmas? Don’t allow the fallen economy and personal disappointments to destroy your happiness and all that you are grateful for!  Inform your children, spouse, and friends that it's going to be a special Christmas this year! You will celebrate each other by being together, and if you do exchange gifts, they don’t have to cost a fortune!

1)     Pick Names:  Instead of giving a present to every member in the family, pick names. The gift can either have a money value (depending on your family’s financial situation),  MADE by YOU or even a coupon of doing something for them such as washing their car, mowing their lawn, etc., but you must honor your coupon as soon as possible and do a great job!  

One of my favorite gifts is a framed poem that my sister, Kathy, made for me one Christmas. I am so honored to have it for she put so much thought into it and into me! All of the hand-made gifts my nieces and nephews made and drew for me over the years are cherished treasures of mine.... next to their presence of course!

2)     Play the White Elephant Game:  This game is great! Everyone brings a wrapped gift, which can be an item laying around at home, a joke present, a hand-made gift, or a store-bought gift. Then, the gifts are placed under the tree. Then cut slips of paper and place numbers on the papers depending on how many people are present. Scramble the slips and then hand them out. After all the slips are handed out, the person who picked number one, picks a gift under the tree. Now, after they open the gift and share it with the group, it's number two's turn. The person who picked number two can either take the gift from number one, or can pick a new gift. If the person takes the gift from number one, then number one picks a new gift and then shows everyone. Now, it's number three's turn. Number three can either steal someone's gift, or pick a new one! A gift cannot be stolen more than three times! For more information, click here

In our family, somebody always brings a present everyone tries to steal. Last year, we were all trying to steal a warm, little blanket and a Starbuck's coffee gift item. Another time, a gift that was opened was a joke gift: a plastic pink flamingo for the yard. We all laughed! No one would steal that. However, Angie, one of my sister's best friends, loved it so much, she asked her husband to steal it for her when it was his turn, since she had already gone! In this game, one person's joke gift can be another's treasure!

Important: The host should have extra gifts wrapped just in case a few guests did not bring any. Sometimes families will not understand this game concept, and they will bring only one gift from the entire family of 5, and then, if the host did not prepare for this, there will be guests who will leave without a gift. In this game, everyone should leave with a gift, even if the gift is a used salt shaker.

Great Gift Ideas for this game are things like peanuts, candy, coffee, tools, gift certificates, and books. If money is tight, go to the dollar store... or find something from home that is either a funny joke gift, or something nice that you can easily part with.  

3) Go Christmas Caroling - It's so much fun to gather friends and family, make eggnog or hot cider, practice the traditional Christmas songs (and maybe even write a few new ones) and then start singing Christmas songs around your neighborhood. By doing this, you help to create great memories for everyone involved!

I remember my mother, sister, and I talking around the fireplace one evening, And all of the sudden, my mother asked us to be quiet. She thought she heard something outside. Sure enough, in our silence, we heard a beautiful sound of voices singing Christmas songs! We immediately jumped up to the window and saw a group of people holding candles and singing Christmas carols on our driveway. We watched them sing and then cheered afterwards. My mother had happened to have made a fresh batch of Christmas cookies, and she shared them with all of the singers!  It was an amazing night! What a pleasant surprise! Holiness filled the air.

4)  Give the Powerful Gift of Words!  Have all the kids and/or adults write on a piece of paper 10 to 20 things they like about their friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. Then place ribbon around the paper or frame it (You can truly get creative here depending on your time/financial situation). This gift is something the receivers just might keep for the rest of their lives.

5) Give Each Other Affirmation Baths. Stand or sit in a circle and choose the person you will bathe. Then, everyone starts shooting out wonderful, SINCERE statements that they love about that person! Continue to do this for one minute! Then you go to the next person and do the same thing until everyone in that circle has been bathed with loving, empowering, kind, sincere words!  Don't be surprised if you're feeling ten feet taller! And, remember, someone in that circle may have never heard a kind word said to them in their lives, so don't be surprised if a few tears are dropped.

(I learned about Affirmation Baths from Sheila Shaw at www.SheilaShaw.com who loves having Affirmation Bath parties.)

Note: If you have a family who needs healing... you may even go a little further with the Affirmation Baths and add apologies and/or “I appreciate you” showers... For example, "I'm sorry, Dad, that I yelled at you last week. You've been a great father and you don't deserve that. I appreciate the great dinners you provide and everything you have done for me.”  Watch miracles magically unfold in your family life!

6)  Learn About Jesus and Pray Together. A great experience to do with your family is to sit down together and read about the birth of Christ and about His teachings. You can discuss how Jesus' message relates to your life and discuss the many different ways that we can be Christ-like on a daily basis. What do we need to change in ourselves to be more like Christ? Who have we hurt and need to apologize to? What do we have to be thankful for? What gifts were we given that can be used for the good of human kind?

Note: This can be extremely powerful. You may want to make the gathering room feel comfortable and sacred by filling the room with candles or battery candle-like lights, offering warm tea or eggnog, and having everyone seated near a burning fireplace.

7)  Be a Volunteer. As a family, volunteer at the Salvation Army or other organizations in your area. Try serving the homeless turkey dinners or work in the soup kitchens, visit a senior citizen rest home and maybe even bring your puppy or dog, if allowed, to make them smile even more. This brings families together and it makes us so thankful for everything we take for granted.

Some of my friends who are no longer blessed with the presence of their family, volunteer every year at the Salvation Army and other non-profit organizations, and they create their own family with the other volunteers while giving others the gift of their smile, good cheer, and a warm meal.

8)  Play Board Games Together! When was the last time you had a family night? When was the last time your family sat down at the table to eat together? Have an evening of playing board games together and eating with each other. You can even incorporate affirmation baths.

9)  Be a Beacon of Light:  If you do not have a family that will participate with any of these ideas, you, ALONE, can create a huge impact on your friends and family by just giving the gift of encouraging, appreciative and loving words.

I have a friend whose mother never told him she loved him. Even on her dying bed, when he asked her if she loved him, she would not reply. What he would have done to hear those three simple words from his mother! What a gift she would have given him to tell him she loved him and what pain she would have healed within her son.  

Are there family members in your life who long to hear these words from you? Or do you assume they know, are too embarrassed to tell them,  or are you too stubborn to share your heart with them?

Why not look them in the eyes and tell them this Christmas! It’s a baby step to deeper relationships and in some cases, great healing.   

Are there friends you appreciate? Tell them! Why not give the gift of encouraging words to everyone you love as well?

Years ago, I noticed that we are so quick to give words of criticism to and about others.  We are quick to see what is wrong with them instead of what is right. So, I decided that every time I had a positive thought about someone, I would voice it to them no matter how they interpreted it. I was giving them a gift of sincere encouragement, and it made no difference to me whether they accepted the gift or rejected it. If I thought it and it was positive, I would share it with them.

So, I told complete strangers what a beautiful couple they were, or how a couple seemed to be such great parents, and what a great older sister the little girl was to her  younger sister, etc. I will tell people I love their clothes, shoes, ties, style, voice, heart, and whatever comes to my mind. I tell my family members that I love them all the time, for tomorrow isn’t promised to us!  And since I started doing this, I am conditioned to see the beauty in everyone and everything I see. Now my life is a blessing every day!

10) Play Mistletoe Kisses© and Dance!  Gather everyone up and invent your own line dance to Mistletoe Kisses! (By purchasing the download for only 99 cents, you contribute 20% to the Salvation Army!)

Allow these tips and the Mistletoe Kisses© song to bring you back to, "I love you!"

May the moments you create this Season be filled with great love, encouragement, and all that is beautiful!

Merry Christmas!

TELL A FRIEND