Don't Let Christmas Destroy You

I just saw yet another commercial for a title loan company. In the spring and summer they tell you to take out a title loan to take a nice vacation. In the fall and winter they tell you to take one out to buy Christmas gifts. Credit card companies tell you the same things.  They make it look like free money.  They all make it sound so appealing.

How appealing does losing your car sound to you?  Is losing your car or going deep in debt with credit cards worth buying a lot of presents that many won't even remember by spring?

Why do so many people feel that they have to go into debt to buy Christmas gifts? Are they afraid their family will no longer love them if they don't give them lots of gifts? Are they afraid they will look like cheapskates to others? Well, I have news for any of you who think that.  If it takes gifts for your family to love you, they don't really love you. And who cares what others think of you?  We, as a whole, tend to think that others have it so much better than us financially. We see others with nice houses, nice cars, expensive clothes and jewelry, taking cruises, etc., and we want that too.  What we don't see is that most of those people are drowning in debt. Many of them worked for many years to be able to afford their lifestyle--they've earned it.  We live in an "I want it now" society. Where people used to scrimp and save, most of us want the nice things without having to go without. I'm no less guilty than anyone, but I am learning.

I am definitely not against giving gifts for Christmas and other holidays.  I love to receive gifts, and I love giving them even more.  However, I refuse to go deeper in debt to buy gifts.  It really isn't even an option for me, since I have gotten rid of all credit cards.  It is totally laughable to me to even consider a title loan on our car. I'm sure they make it sound like a no-risk deal, but have you ever seen the parking lot at many title loan places?  The title loan place here in my town has lots of used cars for sale.  Where do you think they got those cars? They got them from people who were not able to pay back their title loans. In case you haven't figured it out yet, when you take a title loan, you are signing a contract saying that if you do not pay them back, on time, they get your car. That's it, plain and simple.

Ok, so what do you do if you don't have the money to buy all the gifts you would like to buy?  First of all, you might want to explain to the people you give gifts to that you just aren't going to be able to be as generous as you would like to be this year, and that you need to limit gift-giving to immediate family.  You may be surprised.  Oftentimes others would like to stop exchanging gifts because they can't afford it either, but they did not know how to bring it up.

If you have any talents you could make gifts.  Can you sew, do woodworking, cook?  A lot of people love these kinds of gifts.

One of my favorite hints is to not try to do all your shopping at the same time.  I like to buy gifts throughout the year. Many times I will see something that would be perfect for someone, so if I have the money I will buy it right then and save it for Christmas. Usually all I have left to do by December is to buy a few stocking stuffers.

Finally, you are much more important to your family and friends than any gifts you can give.  Don't feel like you are less of a person if you are not able to buy Christmas gifts.  I'll never forget Christmas a few years ago.  We had no money to speak of, but it turned out to be a good Christmas.  Our Christmas dinner was turkey TV dinners.  Our gifts were "Mom" and "Dad" grab-bags that we bought at Dollar Tree.

Christmas is a time to remember the birth of our Savior, and to spend time with those we love and who love us.  Presents  are nice, but not nice enough to go in debt for.

What Makes My Daughter the Great Mom that She is?

Something Nancy's friend Bree said reminded me of this. There are so many things, big and small, that make Nancy a mom any kid would want to have, and I can't cover them all, but I will mention some of them. Tonight the subject is pink.

Nancy is not a true tomboy, but she is also not a frilly girlie-girl. She doesn't like lacy clothes, and she hates pink.  Her daughter Hannah, on the other hand, loves lacy and frilly things, and she adores pink.  I know a lot of moms who would discourage this love of pink, but not Nancy. Hannah has tons of pink clothes and accessories. Pink and all the other girlie colors abound in Hannah's room and wardrobe.

So, what makes Nancy a good mom? She is not afraid to let Hannah's love of pink thrive. :D

Not Hannah's best side!

Oh, in case you were wondering, Hannah does have a healthy dose of tomboy in her as well!  And she doesn't always wear pink! (Yes, she is making a wild face! She is absolutely gorgeous!).

Please Don't Let Me Inconvenience You!

My daughter just related a recent experience of hers, and since it is one of my pet peeves I decided to write about it.

Many people do not like to be inconvenienced by someone asking them to do something for them. They feel as if they are being taken advantage of. They have things they would rather be doing, so they are bothered by the person asking something of them. Understandable, you might say. My question for that person is, why are you working in the place of business I'm patronizing if you feel bothered by my questions? If you don't want me to make that purchase, or to find out about an item the store sells, quit and go home!

Yes, I am speaking of employees who cannot be bothered by people expecting them to just do their jobs. I'm not even talking about unreasonable customers who expect the employee to go above and beyond. I'm just talking about everyday business.

So, for those employees who do not want to be bothered, I have a few things to say to you:

1. If you really cannot handle doing your job cheerfully, and without making the customer feel like an intruder, quit and go home.  There are a lot of people who would gladly take your job.

2. If you really need or want your job, treat your customers the way you would like to be treated.

3. If you really want to succeed in your job, go above and beyond what is asked of you, and don't complain about it while you are doing it.

4. Get off your cell phone. Take private calls on your break.  I actually had a medical technician take a personal phone call while I was lying on the examining table.  There I was, one breast exposed for an ultrasound, and she is standing over me talking to her son about basketball!  I repeat, get off your cell phone.

How Does God Speak to You?

Something happened last night that just served to remind me that God speaks to me all the time--I just have to listen and be aware or I might miss it.

I take a few prescription medicines for health issues, including two types of blood pressure medicine. With one of them I take a full pill and with the other I take half a pill. My doctor said that if I ever feel like I need a full pill, I can do that.

That said, yesterday I forgot to take any of my medicines. By the time I realized it, I figured it would be too late, as it would throw my medicine schedule for the next day off, so I didn't take any. I felt okay, so I figured it wasn't a big deal.

When I started getting ready for bed I noticed something odd. My blood pressure machine, which I had not used in a few days, was partly wrapped around my alarm clock and partly on the bed. Had I inadvertently moved it when I turned my alarm off in the morning? Had the cat been fooling around there and moved it? I don't know. What I do know is that when I saw it lying like that the first thought I had was that I should take my blood pressure right then.

I'm glad I made that decision because my blood pressure was high. I decided to take half of the one pill right then, and I would take the other half when I took the rest of my medicines in the morning.

That is the first way God spoke to me on this matter. The second came a few minutes later. I didn't want to take the pill and go straight to bed. I have read that you should sit up for at least two minutes after taking a pill rather than lying down right afterwards. I grabbed one of my crossword puzzle books and the closest available pen and started working on a puzzle. It was very late, and I needed to get some sleeep, but the puzzle was interesting and I was really getting into it. Then, a couple minutes into the puzzle, just as I finished a word, the pen ran out of ink! I thought to myself, I guess it is time for bed! I checked my blood pressure again, and it had come down significantly, so I went to bed.

I truly felt God speaking to me in this. If I had not checked my blood pressure right then, I would not have known that it was way too high. The ink in the pen lasted just long enough to give me the time I needed to know the medicine had done its job.  Some may think it was just a coincidence. I just know that I serve an AWESOME God!!!

Random Thought of the Day--Pain Tolerance

Yesterday my pinball machine of a brain hit on the topic of pain tolerance. I know a lot of people with a low pain threshold. I knew a girl years ago with a low tolerance for pain. When she was giving birth to her first baby, she actually started to get up from the delivery room bed because she was "done."  Of course, giving birth is not a low-pain activity for anyone.  I have a high threshold for pain, but I had a couple complications and I screamed at least once during delivery.  Which brings me to my point.

I think a lot of people assume that if someone has a high tolerance for pain, it means that they don't feel pain like most others. That is a ridiculous notion!  While there are people who do not feel pain (something rare and dangerous), most of us do.  The phrases "high tolerance" and "low tolerance" are exactly that.  Some people can feel the same pain, but their level of withstanding that pain is different.  I do have a high pain threshold, but if you hit me with a hammer, it is still going to hurt!

It may sound strange, but if I know the source of my pain, I can tolerate it better.  In 1984 I started having horrible pains and ended up in the hospital. For four days they did not know what was wrong with me.  In those four days, I had roughly 30 pain-killer shots. As soon as they found out that it was an ovarian cyst, my level of pain dropped drastically because it was no longer unknown.  Of course, I did have surgery to remove it, as I was not willing to put up with the pain just because I knew what it was!

Another thing that helps me with pain tolerance, when I am going through things like kidney stones, is knowing that as bad as I hurt, someone out there is in worse pain than I am, and is possibly dying. That doesn't make me feel good about being in pain, but it helps me focus on others and to pray for them as I pray for my pain to stop.

A little silliness to end with--I have always said that you can cut my arm off and it wouldn't hurt that much, but give me a paper cut and it hurts like the dickens!

*Sigh*

I hate that I keep waiting so long to write.  I will be home a little more now, so maybe I will be a little better about it.  Even if I am the only one who ever sees it (although I hope I'm not), I need to keep it up.  I enjoy sharing my thoughts with others.  Sometimes they are not very interesting, but once in awhile I think I say something that someone can use.  I'm off to make tacos right now, but hopefully I will think of something to write when supper is over.  :)

Mountaintop and Valley Experiences

We all have mountaintop and valley experiences. The mountaintop experiences (when things are going great for us) are definitely the best, but if it weren't for the valley experiences (when things are not going so well) we probably wouldn't appreciate the mountaintop experiences as much. When we are on top of the mountain we sometimes tend to forget why we are there. We suddenly think we climbed to the top of the mountain on our own, forgetting that God brought us there. It is when we are in the valleys that we remember God is the only one who can get us out.

This morning I had an interesting thought about this whole topic. I came to the realization that sometimes we fling ourselves off of the mountain. We are on top of the mountain, and things are going great, but we make some choices that are not very wise, and in essence, we throw ourselves from the mountain top and begin to tumble toward the valley. As I sit here in a valley, I now know that while I am not completely responsible for being here, I could have probably avoided this particular valley by making a few wiser choices.

Yikes, not happy with myself.

I can't believe how long I have gone without writing. I feel like I am never at home anymore (maybe because I'm not), but that's no excuse. I keep thinking of things I want to write about, but then I end up forgetting. I can't promise anything, but I will try to do better. :)