Christmas Day Reflections

Regardless of how tired you are from near-all-night shopping frenzies, the horror that is Christmas traffic around town, and the mountain of work you had to push through before leaving town for the holidays, Christmas is still so special.

Chapter of the Day
John 6 is such a rich chapter with multiple lessons and teachings. One I thought about was the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Christmas is a time of giving—more than just temporal things, but giving others your time, your love, your encouragement, your prayers. Though your gift may seem so small “among so many”, God can multiply. I submit to you today that if you'll find someone to give to, regardless of how small your gift seems, God will multiply it supernaturally to bless you both.

What Christmas Means to Me
This year the beauty of the season and its real reason has struck me in a fresh way. I don’t know that I’ve ever spent so much time reflecting on the Savior’s birth and letting the spiritual impact sink in. You can’t think about His birth without thinking about His purpose. So thoughts graduate to His death, His resurrection, and now His dwelling within us.

I share these verses and pray a fresh appreciation of Jesus Christ, God manifested in flesh, be yours this day.

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. --Matthew 1:20-23

Christmas Eve Rundown

It is Christmas!
Christmas Eve has always actually been more exciting to me than Christmas Day because we have the biggest of the family gatherings Christmas Eve night. Of course in true Louisiana fashion, I think we had to run the air conditioner and still nearly sweated to death this year. And I think no Christmas Eve in Louisiana is complete without a good thunderstorm, so we got a real gullywasher.

Oops
This year’s highlight surrounded our gift exchange game. My aunt was trying to announce that she had brought a gift to exchange with either a man or a woman. I think the word she was looking for to describe the gift would have been unisex , but she mixed it up with a similar sounding, but very different meaning word. Really shook up the party.

Yum
As always, the food was a form of art. Uncle Floyd made an Alabama Chocolate Pecan Fudge Pie and Aunt Rita made her Banana Split Cake. (Notice how I go straight to the desserts? I am horrible at these family bake-offs about skipping the actual food and making a bee-line straight for the dessert table upon the amen.)

And to All a Good Night
This year everyone was extremely well behaved. We only had one minor altercation over politics, but beyond the shouting, no one came to blows. Seems not everyone in my family can agree on Blanco, Hil, or foreign policy in Iraq. But there's nothing like having such a close family that you can recreate your own version of Face the Nation.

Public Service Announcement
God and my workplace have smiled on me, and I have several much-anticipated days off. I will be out of state visiting family. I am going to cross my toes and hope for an Internet café so I can hopefully share a few posts this week for you poor souls stuck at work. I'll be back in full swing by Thursday at the latest, but I'll try my best to make some posts between now and then. If you don't hear from me, don't form the posse just yet. Just have a Merry Christmas and know I'll be back soon with duct-tape-filled Christmas adventure tales.

Hard Candy Christmas

Family and Friends
Beyond the spiritual side of Christmas, it’s so good to be with friends and family. This has already been a great Christmas for me, even though the actual holiday is not even here yet. I spent some special time with my relatives, and had a great time with my Mom making candy.

Making Candy
I think of making candy for Christmas as a generational thing that my age group has missed out on. It seems foreign to a lot of my friends, but I’ve “discovered” it. And let me tell you that even though it’s a lot of work, it’s really fun and a good way to bring the whole family together.

A Case Study
Tuesday night found me taking a trip to the parents to make candy as presents for my co-workers. My awesome, wonderful, unselfish Mom had already done the hard and time-consuming parts. Even still, we were way late finishing up and had to get my Dad in on the assembly line. But it was so neat to give my friends a gift I created myself (with parental supervision and assistance, of course).

I delivered tins of candy to friends at work. The roommates and I are also going to take some to our apartment neighbors. …Is it wrong that we’ve been neighbors 8 months and I don’t know “Downstairs Lady”’s real name yet? Is the “neighbor” concept lost these days? When’s the last time you borrowed a cup of sugar from yours? Is being friends with your neighbors another lost art like candy-making?

The results

Mailbag: Kids, Parents, and Innocent Bystanders

More reader feedback. Today’s topic in review: children’s public behavior. (Names have been changed to protect the guilty.)

Debate Point#1
Who knew we had such a wide range of opinions on disciplinary techniques for kids?

Reader Feedback

I understand there are ‘moments,’ but I truly agree with you that some kids are just out of control and their parents need to take charge. Personally, I feel like I good ol’ southern ‘whuppin’ would take care of that mess, but I’m sure I’d be crucified for that statement. […] I understand the occasional moment [of misbehavior] but the problem lies in frequency of such behavior. But what can you say? Any comment I make is met with the “wait till you have kids, […]” line. Oh well, maybe we’ll see.

(Lee Ann asks: Is corporal punishment a Southern thing?)

Debate Point#2
Some people agreed with my original point that parents should be considerate of other people when they take their children out in public.

Reader Feedback

AMEN to "when kids attack"!! I am saying that because I don't have kids yet. Apparently, according to parents, I will change completely when that time comes. I've already told my parents to warn me if I turn into one of "those" parents, so now you are another person to keep me in line! :)

Debate Point#3
Yet some parents point out, we have to look beyond the surface to understand and offer comment on children’s behavior.

Reader Feedback

I am a mom of two boys (one with only two volumes, WAY LOUD and off). I remember my pre-children days when I would look at kids in a store throwing a HUGE tantrum and wonder what was wrong with their parents! The link you made to an MSNBC article had one paragraph that hit the nail on the head! It stated: "Don't get me wrong. As a parent, I have an arsenal that includes the deadly stare, loss of privileges and 'We're going back to the car, RIGHT NOW!"' said Angela Toda, a 38-year-old mother of two small children in College Park, Md. "But the bottom line is, there are certain moments that all kids and parents have — and sometimes your kid is going to lose it in a public place."

Sometimes when you see a parent with a spazzing child, the moment in time you see is not indicative of the way that parent disciplines that child on a daily basis. […] People need to stop jumping to conclusions without all the facts, and give parents the benefit of the doubt in some cases. I'm all for removing/disciplining a child when they throw fits for selfish reasons. But Matt. 7:1 says, "Judge not, lest ye be judged..." Perhaps offering a word of encouragement to the parent would be a first step in helping rectify the situation. Those are my thoughts.... Just wanted to show you another perspective.

Debate Point#4
How responsible are parents for their children’s behavior?

Reader Feedback

It's been my observation as a real parent (since somehow being single prevents you from seeing the facts clearly), that well-mannered children are - barring the obvious exceptions - a direct result of a parent's efforts, thirst for skill knowledge (books, etc) & prayer. […]

It usually comes down to a lack of courage on the parent's part. They must be willing to do what's best for the kid in the LONG run, not the short. That means constant supervision and often punishment until the kid(s) realize the behavior will reap consistent negativity. A direct correlation to this is - barring the obvious exceptions - most couples can make it on one income if they're willing to make some (generally not great) sacrifices. Again, there's often a serious lack of courage on the couples' part. This is from someone who's doing both (only) by the grace of God & some courage.

My Thoughts
Truly, I do recognize it takes a lot of courage to raise children, and I respect parents. There is probably no one perfect formula for ensuring perfect children, but again, I’m saying this as a non-parent. I will tell you that as a potential fish owner, I do find all this discussion fascinating and will take it into account when the time comes for me to take on the challenge, joy, and wonder of being responsible for another living being, i.e. my future fish.

Mailbag: Pets and the People Who Hate to Love Them

The Squeaky Wheel
As promised, today we explore some reader feedback. I start with the most recent topic: pets. (Names have been changed to protect the guilty.)

Debate Point#1
I think the obsessive behavior certain pet lovers display has been noted by smart entrepreneurs who've found ways to profit from it. Case in point: have you picked up your pet's Christmas gift yet?

I asked this same question to my Dad today, and surprisingly he answered yes. Happily he informed me that when cleaning the deer he killed this morning, he threw choice parts to our 3 dogs who were estatic and certainly just as happy as any yorkies out there who'll be receiving sweaters Christmas morning.

The commercialization/profit factor struck a chord with one reader:

Reader Feedback (12/17/05)

We are going to DC for Christmas, and we have tickets to see the baby panda there. The tickets were free, but you had to reserve them online. I believe there were 10,000 tickets they were handing out. They were gone in under an hour. Two hours later, they were appearing on E-Bay for $400-500 apiece!!! So I had to laugh when you made the comment "glad to see it's not about the money". LOL!

Debate Point#2
Does Lee Ann hate pets? Due to a past incident involving a biting poodle who's gone on to be with the Lord and my retaliation/disciplinary techniques, certain old friends question my affection for dogs.

Reader Feedback (12/19/05)

Oh there's no question about it in MY mind. You're definitely a pet hater! As evidence, let's reflect on a certain incident which involved a dog, a foot, and a wall. Ah well...it's over and done with, right? You know what they say..."let sleeping dogs lie".

Newer friends root their way to the center of my phobia and discover new ways to identify my behavior.

Reader Feedback (12/19/05)

Idon't disagree with your feelings about pets and major surgery, but most pet-lovers aren't as ridiculous as the ones that you comment on. I think your word should be anti-zoolatrous. You are an anti-zoolator. But you really should just get a pet and fall in love with it so you understand. Maybe a fishing dog.

So I thought about a fishing dog. But a little research about fishing with dogs, and I'm not so sure anymore. However... all this talk about fishing and pets got me thinking.... Maybe it's time I overcome my bias and face my fears. Maybe it's time I commit to a serious relationship. Maybe it's time for... a pet fish?

Pets and Kids

All in Good Fun
Let’s review, shall we. In the last two weeks, I’ve managed to issue statements that could easily be interpreted as hateful toward dogs and small children. And in an unlikely twist of events, moments after Friday’s post, a good friend called and announced that her mixed breed dog was attacked by a pitt bull and nearly killed. Talk about great timing. My seeming insensitivity couldn’t have been more inappropriately timed. (I’m just hoping she doesn’t actually read the blog. Never thought those words would come out of my mouth.)

I guess it must really seem like I hate kids and animals, especially since my friend started with a “I know you won’t understand Lee Ann, but…” disclaimer before sharing the news about her pet’s mishap. Hmmm… I’m just a smart remark about kids away from getting the boot from the mothers and pet lovers among us.

Rise Up Oh Silent Ones
The upside to it all is that my blatant opinion-sharing has jolted many of you into writing in, and that’s always a good thing. I like to hear from you, and I think it’s always healthy to get a dialogue going about issues that apparently interest us, even if it is just about caged pandas.

Mailbag
We’ve got a few days before the Christmas holidays, so I’d like to share some of the feedback I’ve received. It has certainly broadened my horizons and reminded me that there are as many different opinions in the world as there are people. So this week I’ll be sharing some fan-mail/hate-mail on the recent topics.

You can always write me at lblogger@ninetyandnine.com. Good luck with your Christmas shopping! (6 days left!)