Women Who Eat Chocolate

Jesus was born in a lowly stable, not in the finest hotel As I was sitting on my comfy couch yesterday afternoon, my thoughts were aswirl of what needs done before Christmas. My list was out and I was checking and adding things like a banshee. I have presents yet to buy, cookies to bake for two separate events, and a grocery list that is a mile long. I promised myself I wouldn’t get lost in the crowd of Christmas this year and instead of jogging on the fringes of it I almost lost myself in the middle of it. My kids wrote out their Christmas lists, as they do every year, in detail. Their lists are things they would love to have, but which my husband and I peruse and pick at will. Not everything can or ever will be bought – don’t we all have a list in the back of our minds of things we always wanted? Still, for some reason their lists started to blend together and make me go cross-eyed and unable to focus. What am I doing this year to be different? Or a better question, what am I doing...

Christmas is here. The lights are softly glowing in my home, inside and out, and sharing the glow of the tree is the best thing there is. I'm convicted this time of year, always, about what I haven't done. Have I made a difference in someone's life? Have I complained too much this year? Have I been hateful and full of bitterness? These quotes speak to me, and I wanted to share them with you: “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”  ~ John Bunyan “We only have what we give.”  ~ Isabelle Allende “No one has ever become poor by giving.” ~ Anne Frank “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”  ~ Charles Dickens “I don't want to live in the kind of world where we don't look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anybody who needs a helping hand. I cant change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit.” ~ Charles de L...

Debating the “real”Christmas tree versus the artificial Christmas tree It’s 5:30 A.M. and I’m sitting here quietly surveying my household. A cup of java is steaming in my hand and I can see the fog is heavy outside this morning. Christmas paraphernalia is spread out all over my table and the lights of our tree are visible in the living room after being darkened for the night. I feel cheery and warm this drizzly morning. We are “real” tree people. I grew up in a household that always had a fresh pine tree to decorate. The smell would permeate the house as the fiasco with the bottom branches was evened out, and the tree was finally nestled into its home in the metal base. Décor from homemade crafts, school projects, and vintage balls were hung with care on intertwining branches and a star found its home at the top of the tree. I carried that tradition into my marriage and every year of our twenty-three married Christmases together have seen a real pine tree ensconced in our livin...