{"id":5563,"date":"2020-12-13T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5563"},"modified":"2020-07-05T21:14:22","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T02:14:22","slug":"christmas-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5563","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love, love, love the Christmas season. While some hate the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, I relish it. I love hearing Christmas music everywhere. I love hearing an atheist hum \u201cO Come All Ye Faithful\u201d when he has no idea he is praising our Lord. Yes, I know the commercialism has gotten way out of hand, but Christmas is a time when the whole world celebrates the Savior\u2019s birth whether they think they are or not. Without Christ, there really is no \u201cChrist\u201d-mas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of us who don\u2019t have money to buy expensive gifts to lavish on loved ones or even put a dollar or two in Santa\u2019s Salvation Army bucket may feel a little down. But do not despair! There are gifts you can give that cost little or nothing, yet are very valuable. Here\u2019s a list I\u2019ve come up with and I\u2019m sure you can add your own ideas. Just because you can\u2019t buy gifts for others doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t have something to give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smiles<\/strong>: Smiles are a universal language. Not only do smiles lift spirits, they are contagious. Statistics show that a person who is given a smile will more than likely give one to someone else. So as the old song goes, \u201cSmile, darn ya, smile!\u201d (Psalm 32:11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Handwritten Note of Appreciation:<\/strong> Has someone done you a kindness? Why not give them a handwritten note of appreciation? With email and text messaging being the norm for communication today, a handwritten note could turn out to be a collector\u2019s item. (Philippians 1:3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Encouragement:<\/strong> Words like \u201cyou did a great job,\u201d \u201cthank you for your help,\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t you look nice today\u201d can make someone\u2019s day. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laughter:<\/strong> Why not clip and share a funny, yet tasteful, cartoon with someone? Sharing a laugh can even improve one\u2019s health. Studies show that those who laugh more live longer. (Ecclesiastes 3:4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patience: <\/strong>Try not to get irritated with ANYONE for the whole holiday season. Don\u2019t raise your voice in anger or lash out at others. We all make mistakes from time to time, so we don\u2019t need others constantly pointing them out to us. (Luke 21:19)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefit of the Doubt: <\/strong>Think the best of others for a change. Don\u2019t impute motives or assume they are doing things to deliberately upset you. Sometimes we just take things the wrong way. (Philippians 4:8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give People a Break: <\/strong>Open the door for someone. Let someone go ahead of you in line. Give the other guy the parking space. It won\u2019t hurt you as much as you think. (Philippians 2:3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit One Person in a Nursing Home: <\/strong>So many that are in nursing homes have no one to visit them. Our dream as a young person is not to end up old and alone. Ask the nursing home attendant if there is anyone who never has visitors, then visit a little with that person. Listen more than talk. The elderly love sharing childhood stories. They are living history lessons. (Matthew 25:39-40)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgive: <\/strong>Remember that forgiveness is a gift you give yourself as well as others. Let go and let God take care of it. (Matthew 6:14)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be a Living Example of Jesus Christ: \u2018<\/strong>Tis the season to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Be a reflection of Christ. Let others see that Christ is alive and living in you. What a great gift to give to others! (Matthew 5:16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You won\u2019t find these gifts under the tree. That\u2019s what\u2019s so nice about them. People don\u2019t have to wait until Christmas to unwrap the package!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O heavenly Father, I can\u2019t thank You enough for the indescribable gift of Your Son Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 9:15). He came not to condemn us but to save us (John 3:17). The angels sang at His birth and although we don\u2019t know the exact time or date of His actual birth that does not mean we can\u2019t rejoice at this time of year. What a wonderful time to pause and spend time with friends and family. It\u2019s even better if we can focus on Jesus\u2019s birth during our celebrations, but if that\u2019s not possible, we can still remember the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts and reflect Christ\u2019s love to all we meet. Merry Christmas, Lord! And thanks again for giving us the perfect Christmas present\u2014Your Son, Jesus!  <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 I love, love, love the Christmas season. While some hate the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, I relish it. I love hearing Christmas music everywhere. I love hearing an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}