Welcome to the weekend! Can you believe it’s only a few days until Christmas??As I started writing this today, I realized that this is the 500th issue of the Little Things newsletter. This was never something I had planned. I continue to write this email every Saturday morning because I really enjoy sharing our lives with you in this way.
The world of food blogging has changed a lot in the past 15 years. When I started writing newsletters about 10 years ago, it was my way of trying to stay connected to you despite the internet’s pressure to “just share recipes” and stop telling the stories that go along with the food you share.
Today, to celebrate both my love of Christmas and my enjoyment of sending this newsletter for the 500th time, I’m giving away a $500 Amazon gift card.
I really enjoy celebrating holidays and love hearing about your family’s favorite traditions. To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post and tell us about your favorite Christmas tradition.
On Tuesday, December 23rd, I’ll choose five comments left on this blog post and, as a fun bonus, I’ll send each reader a $100 Amazon card. Winners will be notified via the email used to leave their comment on the website.
(Unfortunately, while we love receiving emails, email responses are not eligible for this benefit. It’s very difficult to track applications that way.)
First of all, I would like to share my favorite Christmas memory.
When I was 8 years old, I wanted roller skates for Christmas. My mom managed to find a pair of old-fashioned skates with metal wheels. These looked nothing like the skates my friend had, but they were skates and she was very happy to find them. She cleaned them and kept them for me.
However, the old skates needed new laces. She couldn’t afford to buy shoelaces, but she gathered whatever change she had at home, mostly pennies, and went to the store.
She took a pile of coins and a package of shoelaces to the store counter, but the young and impatient clerk told her he wouldn’t accept her coins. My mother started crying, but she held on and told the store clerk that it was still good money and that she needed the shoelaces for Christmas. Thanks to the help of a gentleman in line behind her, the clerk eventually sold her the shoelaces, and she took them home.
When I opened my gift of skates on Christmas morning, I had no idea how much work had gone into them and how many tears had poured into them. I was just so excited to wear roller skates for the first time.
Thank you, Mom, for that memory and so many more. You taught me to be grateful for everything. You taught me that it’s so much more fun to find joy in life’s little pleasures than always looking to the next big thing.
I have learned a lot from my mother’s example over the years. I know that Philippians 4:11-13 is not just a Bible verse, it is a way of life. “I don’t say this because I am in trouble. I have learned to be content in all circumstances. I know what it is to be poor, and I know what it is to be rich. I have learned the secret of being content in all circumstances, whether I have enough food or hunger, whether I have plenty or not. I can do all these things through God who gives me strength.”
Through her constant and faithful example, she taught me that happiness is a choice. We can choose to be happy and find joy in the little things, or we can choose to focus on what may be missing from the perfect picture.
If you are reading this today, I pray that you find special moments in your life to be grateful for, no matter how big or small. I wish you a wonderful Christmas week full of little things that make you smile.
mary
Winner of giveaway
Thank you so much for sharing your memories with me this Christmas. I loved reading them all. They have brought a lot of smiles to my face this year as well.
jessica atkins
Every year, a few days before the party, my grandmother would invite all her grandchildren and we would all decorate the sugar cookies she had made. It was crazy fun and we all had special aprons made by my aunt with our names on them. We loved showing them off to our parents at parties. And of course we eat.
donald mamma
I still get a chuckle when I remember when my mom used a weed lying around on her Christmas tree. She wanted, in her words, a “cowboy Christmas.” Christmas that year was interesting. Every time people came, I saw them holding up the tumbled weeds with old broom sticks. It seems that my mother also took that laugh as a compliment. One problem with this idea is that you’ve been removing splinters from your shag carpet for months.
Michelle Ehrhart
I loved going into my grandparents’ very small house and smelling the smells coming from the kitchen, smelling the tree decorated with silver “icicles” and seeing the pile of presents under the tree.
Michael A. Koons
My Christmas memory is of my beloved mother, who passed away, and the lessons she taught us about giving to others about Christmas. After all three of us girls opened all the presents, we were each asked to choose the one we liked best. My oldest sister passed the baton, my second sister chose the art supplies, and then it was my turn. It was a set of Play Dough modeling clay that I really wanted. My mom sat us all down and said she was going to give these favorite things to families whose children didn’t have anything for Christmas. We all insisted on giving them other gifts, but to no avail. My mother emphasized that giving up our favorite gifts is a true sacrifice and an example of true charity. We all thought about it a little and came to the conclusion that she was indeed right. It was a difficult lesson at this time, but it affected us like never before. There were many presents, but this family had nothing. I’ll never forget that and even now, at 70, I smile when I think about how smart my mother was. I miss her kind and gentle heart since she passed away 38 years ago.
sharon breslin
Four grandchildren were born in the same year. Every Christmas Eve, my husband came to our house dressed as Santa. Kirsten turned 5 and heard a comment before Christmas that she knew Santa was Pop Pop. So my grandmother decided to call her Bluff. I had a friend dress up as Santa. Kirsten boasted that she was Pop, but we were surprised to see Pop in the kitchen!! We got to experience a few more years of the wonder of childhood Christmas!
