Want to make Christmas special?

Ah, the holidays, they are a mixture of fun, food and a plenitude of stress.  We feel so much pressure to make everything just right.  It is maddening at times.

We want to make things special because Christmas itself is distinctive.  Christmas is packed with meaning.  All the more reason that we want to make it stand out.  The memories should last a lifetime or at least until New Year’s.

3 Quick Tips to Make Your Christmas Special

I know you’re busy so I’ll get right to the point and make this brief.  There are still presents to wrap, songs to carol and hams to bake.  So, in the midst of all this, how do you make Christmas special?  Well, here are some things to consider:

1.  Start by Letting Some Things Go

You can squeeze the specialness right out of Christmas trying to pack it too full of good things.  In 5 Authentic Ways to Keep the Holidays Simple, we are reminded that Christmas is a time that we are supposed to be spending with family and friends, accentuating the important things in life.  Remember, good can be the enemy of great.  If you try to cram too much good stuff in, then you may very well crush the greatness right out of it.  This is true not only for you, but for everyone else around you as well.  Let some things go and you’ll have a much more momentous season.

2.  Be Generous to Someone Outside Your Circle

I know we buy tons of gifts for close friends and family members at Christmas.  In fact, I think we often overdo Christmas gift giving, but I’ll save that for another article.  A powerful way that you can make your Christmas special is by giving generously to someone outside your immediate circle.  You might be like Evan in How to Help a Homeless Friend? that knows someone that is down on their luck and needing a little extra generosity this year.  Giving to someone that really needs it will warm your heart and give you that special feeling inside.  This is what Christmas is really all about anyway, isn’t it?

3.  Go Deeper Into the True Meaning

The Most Unbelievable Story Ever Told has to do with Christmas.  It has suspense, mystery and twists behind every corner.  It will challenge, inspire and motivate you.  If you spend a little time with it, you cannot help but to be deeply affected by it.  The more you explore this story, the more special your Christmas will become.  It will surely touch you in a way that will make this year more memorable and extraordinary than any other thing that you can possibly do.  Want a truly special Christmas?  Then take some time to go behind the scenes and learn what the day is really all about.

I Wish You the Merriest Christmas Ever

I wish you a very special Christmas this year.  I hope it is full of family, friends, hope, peace and love.  May you experience everything Christmas is supposed to be without all the burden it was never meant to carry.  If this article sparked any ideas that you feel will help to make your Christmas special, then please do the favor of passing it along to others.  Merry Christmas!

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

I’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a joyful life.  I hope your holidays are filled with excitement and enthusiasm.  May all your wishes come true and may your home be filled with the wonderful sites, sounds and smells of the season.

I’d like to remind you that each day is truly a gift.  Be present in the moment.  Drink it all in.  This is sweet time.  Soak it into your memory.  Let it penetrate you down to your soul.  May it be as grand and enjoyable a holiday as you’ve ever experienced!

Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.  To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.  ~Calvin Coolidge, 1927

To all my wonderful readers, thank you for all your support, encouragement and comments!  It has been a great year.  I am truly blessed.  I hope in some small way that I have also blessed you.

Three Awesome Christmas Articles for Your Enjoyment

Here are three articles that will help you refocus so you can ponder the wonder and mystery of Christmas appropriately:

• The Most Unbelievable Story Ever Told
• Round John Virgin, Mother and Child: The Magic and Mystery of Christmas
• The Joy and Wonder of Christmas

Merry Christmas to All!

Photo by D’Arcy Norman

Is this your version of Jingle Bells?

Racing through the snow
On adrenalin and latte
To packed malls I go
Stressed out all the way!

Are you rushing to stores, sitting in traffic, fighting for a parking space, and standing in long lines at the registers?

Plus decorating, baking special treats in-between all the other activities, such as cleaning the house from top to bottom, wrapping stacks of presents and shopping, planning and cooking a huge meal for family and friends?

Stress During the Holidays

Countless studies and surveys show that stress levels intensify during the holidays – especially for women.

Having too much to do is among the top three stresses which include finances and sadness over lost loved ones.

So what can you do to reduce your stress levels during the holidays and feel the “spirit” again?

How about finding more time to devote to the least stressful holiday activity of all which is – spending time with family?

One holiday season 10 years ago I reached my breaking point and decided to stop the madness.

I was out buying gifts for every single person who was coming to my house for Christmas dinner.

The woman at the head of the check-out line was arguing with the salesgirl causing a huge delay. Everyone looked around for a shorter line to go to, but there wasn’t one. You could feel the angry vibes coming from everyone in the line.

Whatever happened to “peace on earth, and good will toward men?”

Reclaim a Better Holiday Spirit

The spirit of the holidays was no where inside, or near that mall.

Looking around at the huge “SALE” signs hung everywhere, and buyers carrying burgeoning shopping bags hungrily hunting for bargains I felt such a sadness. Was this all there was to the holidays?

Memories of my happiest holidays came to mind, such as when my father, grandparents and favorite aunt were still alive.

I realized that the magical warmth of “holiday spirit” I longed for emerged only when there was a gathering of family and friends, and a blending of love, laughter and togetherness.

One thing became clear – to shorten the to-do list and free up some time – the unnecessary holiday shopping had to go. But how would I convince my family?

Reasons to Give Up Gift Giving

I made a list of the reasons why not exchanging gifts was a good idea:

1. We all have too much of everything anyway. Our closets are overflowing and every nook and cranny of our homes is bursting at the seams with stuff we don’t need.

2. We can go out and buy whatever we need when we need it – waiting for that “something special” at the holidays is passé. No one waits anymore.

3. Save money. When you have too much none of it means anything anymore.

4. Take the family shopping to buy presents for children living in homeless shelters.

5. Use the money you would have spent to sponsor a child in a third world country.

6. Create a family scholarship account that’s funded each year with the money that would have gone to presents.

7. Set up a “Secret Santa” gift exchange where everyone gets just one gift. Set a maximum spending limit as well.

8. Reclaim your time. The time you would have spent in traffic and shopping can be spent baking those treats, or relaxing with family instead.

9. Create a new tradition of watching holiday movies with your family instead of racing to the malls. There are so many to choose from.

10. Use the time to take a trip into the city to see the window displays at the fancy department stores instead. Top off the evening with a fun activity like ice skating.

11. Spend the evening with your kids making home-made ornaments. Make pop-corn and string it for garland to create an old-fashioned tree.

12. Write checks. Let the person find what they truly want after the holidays and on sale.

That year I announced that, with the exception of the children, I thought we should stop buying presents for one another.

I saw relief wash over my guests’ faces. We’d all been thinking the same thing, but been afraid to bring it up.

We realized that what we really wanted was to feel the joy of the “spirit” during the holidays.

Now we really get psyched about the holidays each year.

When you’re free of the stress and tension you’ll feel the joy and “spirit” of the holiday again.

To put the “spirit” back in the holidays – take the shopping out and put the family back in.

Angela Artemis is a financial salesperson, a freelance writer, and a blogger at Powered by Intuition. She is also the marketing director for The Daily Brainstorm.

Photo by Waka Jawaka

As far as stories go, I don’t think there has ever been one that has gone more viral than this one.  Yet, this story has some of the most unbelievable tales in it ever told.

Despite the absolutely wild claims made in this unbelievable story, there are literally millions of people that believe it. 

In fact, throughout the last couple thousand years, many have gone well beyond just believing it.  They have actually been willing to die, sometimes gruesome deaths, all because they wouldn’t recant their claim that this story is true.

Of course, I am talking about the original Christmas story.

What Makes the Christmas Story So Unbelievable?

Oh, let me count the ways that the Christmas story from the Bible is unbelievable!  Here are just a few of the details that stand out as outrageous claims:

1.  A Virgin Gives Birth

Really?!?  Isn’t this a pretty unbelievable claim?  When you really think about it, this has got to be one of the most outlandish assertions ever put forth.  Are we really expected to believe a virgin became pregnant without artificial insemination or any other human interaction and gave birth to a baby?

Think about it for a minute.  If your teenage daughter turned up pregnant, then claimed that it was God that made her pregnant.  Would you believe her?  I’d send her for some serious therapy.

Look at it from another perspective.  If you or your son or your brother were dating a girl and she came up pregnant, but claimed she was still a virgin.  Would you buy it?  No way!  I’d believe she had been running around and was trying, in some very bizarre way, to cover it up.  This is very hard to believe!

2.  Angels Appear to People

Have you ever seen an angel?  What are angels?  Would I even know one if I saw one?  The whole idea of angels (whatever they are) appearing to people to explain very strange happenings seems extremely hard to believe.

Yet, the Christmas story claims that an angel first appeared to Mary to let her know she was going to become pregnant despite the fact she was a virgin.  The angel also told Mary to name her baby Jesus and that he was going to be called the Son of God.  Imagine your friend laying this story on you!   Would you believe it?

Wait, that’s not all!  Then, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream and tells him not to be afraid to take the pregnant Mary as his wife because her baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  What?!?

Finally, an angel appears to the shepherds in the fields tending their sheep to let them know a baby was born in a manger in Bethlehem.  The angel also tells these shepherds that this baby is an anointed one from God.  Okaaaay, pretty weird stuff, if you ask me.

What on earth were these people smoking that they had visions of supernatural beings telling them such outrageous things?  Apparently, ancient Israel was a pretty groovy place, if you know what I mean.

3.  A Star Guided Wise Men from the East

Let me give you yet another amazing claim of the Christmas story.  We are to believe that a special star appeared in the sky overhead where Mary’s baby was born.  It has been called the Star of Bethlehem.

We  are also to believe that some wise men noticed this special star and that it somehow guided them directly to the place where this particular baby was born.

Come on!  This star wasn’t exactly a handheld GPS receiver.  Bethlehem was a tiny village back in those days and I’m sure that a lot of other babies were also being born all over the place about the same time that Mary gave birth. 

Isn’t this whole idea of a star leading men from the East to the place where Mary had her baby just a little too far-fetched?

4.  The Rest of the Story

Of course, the bizarre and unbelievable claims of the Christmas story don’t really stop with the birth of Mary’s baby.  It goes well beyond that.  Way, way, way beyond that!

Jesus grows up and ticks off the Jews and the Romans enough that they join forces to arrest him, beat him and finally torture him to death in a way reserved for their very worst criminals.  Of course, given all the crazy claims he makes (I won’t go into them here) and the story of his birth, it is easy to imagine that they thought he was completely insane.

It is after he is dead and buried that the story really gets unbelievable.  His friends claim that he returns from the dead!  He just gets up and walks off!

For them, this is the final proof that he is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. 

His friends believe that somehow by dying on a Roman cross he has paid the penalty of all of our wrongdoings.  They start going around telling everyone that if you will simply believe this incredulous story that you can receive God’s forgiveness and live eternally in heaven after you die.

As Paul Harvey would say, this is the rest of the story.  Boy, is it a doozy or what?  Again, the most unbelievable story ever told, but yet one that has endured and been more viral than anything that ever hit the front page of Digg.

This Unbelievable Story Is Why We Celebrate Christmas

God chose things the world considers foolish…
1 Corinthians 1:27 (NLT)

Millions the world over believe this wildly unbelievable story.  Those that believe are called Christians and I am one of them.  It isn’t very popular to be a Christian.  It never has been.  It takes guts to believe a story that God Himself knew would seem foolish to many on the surface.

You have to dig into it before it starts to unveil its truth to you.

If we were face-to-face right now, you might ask me why I believe something that admittedly seems far-fetched and over-the-top crazy.  Well, because I’ve dug below the surface.  I’ve given it a fair chance and here’s what I’ve found:

• The numerous documents we have that tell the stories about Jesus in the Bible have been critically examined by numerous scholars and are generally considered historically reliable and trustworthy. 
• As I already mentioned, all but one of Jesus’ closest friends died gruesome deaths because they would not recant their eyewitness testimony to the truth of this story despite how unbelievable it seems at first.
• Archaeology supports the historical reliability of the Biblical accounts of Jesus’ life.  Why would the writers go to such painstaking detail for a work of fiction?
• There is a pile of circumstantial evidence that also supports the accuracy of the claims made in the Christmas story.

Still, it takes a leap of faith to believe this unbelievable story.  I don’t think anyone would argue that.  This is the way it was designed.  I challenge you to check it out for yourself at least once during your lifetime.  Here’s what I would suggest:

• Study some of the evidence I linked to above.
• Read some of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament for yourself.  If you don’t have a Bible, you can find one online or at your local library.
• Ask a friend if you can attend a few church services with them.

Look at how long this story has endured.  Look at how many people have given everything they have to it.  Look at the millions of others that have believed.  If it were a complete work of fiction, don’t you think it would have been exposed by now?

Do you believe the most unbelievable story ever told?

Photo by Secret Tenerife

Christmas should be simple and enjoyable.  It shouldn’t be a time that adds burden to your life.  It should be a time of reflection and celebration.

Of course, it is incredibly easy to fall into the traps that complicate and distort our Christmas.  They often sneak up on us without us even realizing it.

Five Things You Can Do to Keep Christmas Simple

Now is a good time to take a step back to see where we are at.  Are you keeping Christmas simple?

These five quick tips will help you evaluate yourself and realign your efforts:

1.  Remember that true joy is often found in the simplest of things.

We are often happiest when our life is the simplest.  Take a moment and read the 7 Ways to Find Happiness Through Simplicity.  Are you incorporating these principles into your Christmas?  We often let family, retailers and our desire for the perfect holiday work us into a frazzle.  A simpler approach is less stressful and will probably be more enjoyable for everyone.

2.  Don’t let good things crowd out the best things.

Shopping, decorating, traveling, visiting, baking, cooking and cleaning often crowd out the best things about Christmas.  Making Time for Family is really what is important.  Many times by the time Christmas Day actually arrives we are too tired to really enjoy it.  Is anyone going to really notice if a few things don’t get done this year?  I doubt it.  Scale back on the good things so you can savor the best things this season.

3.  Give gifts that really have meaning and purpose.

Finding the right gift for that special someone is often very stressful.  We can spend hours fighting crowds, traffic and our own indecisiveness only to wind up with something that falls flat on Christmas morning.  I like the idea of getting your significant other a gift with purpose as presented in 10 Awesome Christmas Gifts for Married Couples.  These gifts are easy to find and are of true value.

4.  Spend less this year.

We all know we should spend less, but it seems like we never do.  Many people have serious regrets when the bills start arriving in January.  Why do this?  Can you even recall what you spent so much on last year?  Christmas doesn’t have to be a dud just because you are thrifty.  Check out Buying Bargains: How We Will Spend Less But Give More This Christmas for some great ideas on how to cut back.  Heck, you can even Save Money on Gift Wrap while still making everything look beautiful.  Don’t ruin your Christmas with too much spending!

5.  Contribute online to making someone else’s Christmas special.

Do your holiday giving online this year!  It is quick, easy and a little donation can really go a long way.  In fact, just $5 provides more than 45 pounds of food or 10 bags of groceries to a family in need at the One Dollar Give where they are Feeding America.  This is a great opportunity to make a difference without ever having to leave your computer!

A Simple Christmas Is an Enjoyable One

These ideas will help take a lot of the stress and frenzy out of your Christmas experience this year.  Of course, no one can make it happen but you.  Choose a better Christmas for yourself and your family this season.  Keep Christmas simple!

What other tips can you offer to help keep Christmas simple?

Photo by Michal Osmenda

The recession and bailouts have dominated the airwaves and blogosphere recently. Retailers seem to be flipping out, the automakers are whining so loud it is deafening, and the media is having a field day with it all.

Everyone seems concerned about where we are headed financially.  However, I think this could all have some positive effects on our Christmas experience.  In fact, I’m looking forward to the best Christmas ever.

Why I think a crappy economy will benefit Christmas

There are a number of ways that I think a tighter economy will make for the best Christmas ever.  Here are some of my thoughts along this line.

1.  It will force us to simplify

You always hear people wanting to simplify their Christmas, but they never seem to do anything about it.  Well, the economy might be just the catalyst some people need to push them in the right direction.

With less disposable income, hopefully we will cut back on all the gifts, activities and craziness that seem to consume the holiday.  What better excuse is there to simplify than, “We don’t have the money”?

2.  In a crisis, we seem to pull together

When the going gets tough, we tend to stick together just a little closer.  Isn’t this what the holidays are really all about?  Family, friends and loved ones are what make Christmas meaningful.

Maybe the poor economy will reduce the running around and hectic pace we all tend to fall victim to during the holiday season.  I don’t know if it is just too soon or what, but it already seems that things are a little slower this year.

At my house, we have spent time sitting together on the couch watching Christmas specials on television, drinking eggnog while reading the true Christmas story, and baking cookies to give to neighbors and co-workers.

I’ve enjoyed this togetherness immensely!  However, if the financial picture was better, I’m not sure we would be spending our time the same way.

3.  Maybe it will reduce some of the consumerism

Will the recession and tighter budgets lead people to spend less?  I sure hope so!  Otherwise, the post-Christmas blues are probably going to be a lot worse this year.

I’d hate to think that spending on Christmas might lead some folks into bankruptcy or foreclosure.  Hopefully, this economy will take some of the rabid consumerism and overspending out of the holiday.

For many of us, our grandparents lived through the Great Depression.  As a result, they learned to be fiscally conservative.  They know what hard times are all about.  However, not all of this got passed down from one generation to the next.

Today, many feel that younger generations have a sense of entitlement.  They are the “microwave” generation.  They aren’t accustomed to having to wait on anything.  They’ve grown up during prosperous times where lifestyles have become overinflated.

A time of correction might help to reel in our promiscuous spending and help us to refocus on what really matters.

Simplification, togetherness and frugality = best Christmas ever!

I really think this Christmas might be one of the best ever.  That is if we simplify, spend more time with loved ones and cut back on spending.  Think about it.  Isn’t this what we all really want anyway?  Why not take the opportunity this year to make the changes that will make your Christmas one of the best ever?

This post is part of a series offered by The Life Skills Network on simplifying your Christmas.  Please check out the other articles in this series:

• Simplify Your Holidays in 3 Easy Steps @ My Dollar Plan
• Simply Perfect: Holiday Tips from On Simplicity Readers @ On Simplicity
• 3 Ways to Simplify Your Christmas @ The Wisdom Journal
• The Top of Your Holiday To-Do List: Breathe. @ Simple Mom

Photo by krisdecurtis

• 50 Frugal Gifts You Can Give This Christmas
• 10 Amazing Frugal Gift Ideas Under $20
• Frugal Holiday Gift Ideas
• Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas for Xmas 2008
• 5 frugal Christmas gifts with flaws
• Three Alternatives to Traditional Gift Giving
• Christmas Gifts for the Blogger in Your Life

Links for Super-Charged Living

Here’s this week’s awesome articles in each key characteristic of super-charged living:

1. Strives for Excellence
   How to Achieve Anything
   21 Surefire Ways to Stay Motivated 
2. Financially Wise
   Enough of these bailouts already
   11 Little Steps to Better Finances 
3. Committed to a Cause
   $250 Holiday Giveaway- Nominate Your Favorite Charity!
   9 Steps to a Meaningful Christmas for You and Your Family
4. Leadership by Example
   7 Essential Skills for Managing Change
   Shaping our Children’s Lives-3 Business Philosophies that Instill Leadership in our Kids 
5. Entrepreneurial Spirit
   11 Ways to Cure Someday Syndrome
    5 Ways To Find, Hire, and Use a Virtual Assistant
6. Continual Learner
   10 Things We Can’t Have Without the Other
   What a Pickup Artist Taught Me about Simple Living
7. Adventurous
   How to travel with your dog
   The 6 Characters You’ll Meet At Every Expat Bar

I hope you have a super-charged weekend!  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the links.

Photo by bethography – melting

Being deployed during the holidays is a big sacrifice

I’ve been in their position before when I served in the Air Force.  Therefore, I deeply empathize with their situation.

In 1993, after the first Gulf War, I spent Christmas and New Year’s in Saudi Arabia protecting the “no fly zone” over Iraq.  Fortunately, at the time, I didn’t have children.  However, it was still difficult being away from my wife and extended family for the holidays.

I have a friend that is in Iraq now.  He left his wife and daughter a few months ago.  He will be deployed for 12 to 15 months.  That’s a huge sacrifice! 

Soldiers from every country make big sacrifices.  It doesn’t matter if they are deployed overseas or not.  Serving in the military is not usually easy, but showing support is!

It is very easy to show support and make a soldier’s day!

A very simple and easy way for us to help is by simply showing our support.  It doesn’t take much, but it will be greatly appreciated.

For Americans, I encourage you to take a few minutes right now and visit America Supports You.  If you are from another country, I hope you will find a similar site and so the same.

On the America Supports You site, you can send a message of support to a soldier.  It doesn’t cost you a dime and it will literally make their day!

You can also find links to other groups that support U.S. troops.  Here are just a few of the other ways that you can be of assistance:

• Donate Frequent Flyer Miles
• Help for the Wounded
• Military Family Support
• Phone Cards
• Send Care Packages
• Tragedy Assistance

As you can see, there are tons of ways to show your support.  I hope you will find something here that feels right to you.  I can assure you it will not go unnoticed!

Photo by Army.mil

I will donate up to $500 to the winner’s favorite charity!  All you have to do is nominate the charity of your choice by leaving a comment on this post.  I will randomly select a charity from the nominations and then donate $1 for every comment received.  It is as simple as that.

I have been greatly blessed this year and in the spirit of Christmas, I earnestly want to give back.  I thought this would be a great way to do it and to learn about some new charities along the way.

Guidelines for nominating your favorite charity for the donation

This is an excellent opportunity to spread the word about the charity of your choice!  Also, in order to make the donation, I need to be able to positively locate the intended charity.  Therefore, let me offer these guidelines to ensure your charity gets the consideration it deserves.

In your comment:

• Be sure to use the exact official name of your charity
• In 2 to 3 sentences, tell us who your charity benefits and what they do
• If you would like, leave a link to the charity’s website so I can find it
• Tell us what you particularly love about this charity

Following these guidelines should help ensure that all the necessary information is included to qualify your charity for the giveaway.

Rules for the charity donation giveaway

What would a contest be without a few rules, right?  I’ll keep it simple, but I do have to set a few boundaries in order for this to be fair and meaningful.  Here it goes!

1. All organizations nominated must be actual non-profit charities.  Please no “I’m my favorite charity” nominations!  A Charity where I cannot verify its official status will not be considered.
2. I will close the comments on this post on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 5:00 P.M. Central.  Only comments received prior to this time will be a part of the random selection giveaway.
3. Please only one nomination per person.  No spam comments!
4. I reserve the right to disqualify any charity that offends me or my beliefs.  I doubt this will be an issue, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
5. Again, I will donate $1 per legitimate comment to the charity nominated in the randomly selected comment below.  The maximum donation is $500.  I’d love to see 500 valid nominations!

Be sure to tell your friends so they can nominate their charity!

This is a great way to support your favorite charity without having to spend a dime out of your own pocket!  Why not let all your friends, so they can participate too? 

Spread the word! 

Note: My wife saw this idea in the December 2008 edition of Real Simple Magazine.  In response to the “Your Words” question of  “How Do You Give Back During The Holidays?”, Kristen from GreenStyleMom mentioned how she did this last year.  It seems like a fabulous idea so, I borrowed it.

Photo by dental ben

If you want to get serious about improving your financial position there is no better time to start than today. You might think that you are in too deep of a hole to ever get yourself out, but you might be amazed at how quickly you can make positive traction. I am 100% convinced that debt-free is the only way to live successfully. The Bible says that the borrower is slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7) and I believe it. When you owe someone, you work for them. Your options are limited because you have to continue to make those payments. Debt is the biggest obstacle you have to becoming truly wealthy.

So, how does one change their ways and start fresh? I recommend you start by reading Dave Ramsey’s book, “The Total Money Makeover”. It lays out a simple plan to get you from where you are today to becoming financially independent. It is a complete map of what you need to do. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is real and practical. I have been following his advice for the last year and it is truly paying off. Most people are able to pay off all their debts except the house in 18 to 24 months. I didn’t see how this was possible when we started, but here we are about 18 months later and we will be debt-free next month!

You might also want to check out Dave Ramsey’s Website and Debt-Proof Living. The key is to get started. We all know that getting started is half the battle. You simply have to decide that this is what you want and then GO FOR IT!