Grandma's Christmas tree

As we age it seems it get's harder and harder to get the ladder and haul out the Christmas decorations...and then 4 weeks later we have to store them all away again for another year...and I guess I am no exception. For many years we had a tree 18 feet high and we had to bring the ladder in the house just to decorate it. Now my tree is a fiber Optic fake little thing and I never have to decorate it.

But last year I re-instated the family tradition that was started many years ago by my husbands mother. Grandma Schultz was never one to decorate much but she always had a tree. Then as she got older even the tree disappeared. But that only lasted for a year or two because I think she got tired of all the whining and complaints, "but Grandma you need a tree, where do we put the presents"?  So I think in frustration she started hanging Christmas tree ornaments on her lamp shade. She got a good laugh from us all but in the back of our minds we were all thinking and asking ourselves, "is Grandma loosing it?" But never the less she continued this tradition for many years.

Well I think this Grandma is also loosing it. Last Christmas as I got out my Christmas decorations I remembered with affection and Love my mother-in-law's decorated lamp shade and I just knew in my heart that I had to continue this  tradition. When my daughter saw my decorated lamp shade it brought a huge smile to her face remembering her Granadma.

This Christmas season my prayer is for everyone to remember those family traditions and try keeping them alive by telling the stories to your kids and grandkids and pass on the old traditions and maybe start new ones.  

Have a wonderful Christmas and remember Jesus is the reason for the season!!

THE MONEY GAME!!

Lately I have had more than a couple people ask me why no blog updates lately?  Maybe I have writers block...or maybe just not inspired. Then Sunday morning my Pastor inspired me. What a sermon!! He preached on James 4 ....the folly of money and the love of money. During his sermon I was thinking about stuff...and money.  Oh how I do love to accumulate money...money for buying hotels...money for buying more property...money for buying railroads....money for houses and then more money as I collect rent. I can't help from smirking as I count and stack my money...stacks and stacks of money. I love to play the money game. Buy lots of stuff and charge lots of rent and always...always pass GO and never go to jail. I am queen of the money game...in the past I have amassed quite a Monopoly fortune. But at the end of the game I have to take all my stacks of money...all my hotels...all my property and put it back in the box.

 

Sometimes in life we loose track of our main goal and instead of putting our trust in the BIG "G"   GOD,  we instead start putting our trust in stuff....or the other 3 "G's"...Goods...Garments...and Gold. I think that's called stuff-trusting. If there was no God I guess stuff-trusting would be an OK thing to trust in. But there is a God and he wants us to trust in HIM....not stuff or money.

So I think what Pastor Dave was trying to get across to me is yes we should plan for the future but our plan should include God. Do not be haughty and think for one minute that you had anything to do with your accumulations. Everything is God's....God owns everything and gives us all things to enjoy. Be rich in good works, ready to give, and willing to share. It's just yours to play with while you are here so don't take it too serious. After all it's just like Monopoly money. It all goes back into the box when the game is over.