Search Results for: gifts

The Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? Remember that line from the fairy tale? The wicked queen sure didn’t like the response from her magic mirror.

I remember a story a friend tells of how he used a mirror. He was the supervisor of a cleaning crew. Tasks on their list were not getting as much attention as they should and he felt compelled to inspire his teams. He wanted them to take more personal responsibility for a good job.

When they arrived at their morning meeting, there was a mirror at each place around the conference table. He introduced the subject of improved results from their cleaning efforts and offered to show the solution to the problem. Then he invited each person to pick up the mirror in front of them and look into it. There, he said, is the person who can solve the problem!

He made his point. The group took suggestions all around the room; not on how OTHERS should do a better job, but how that particular person would improve his work that very day. Then they went out and did it.

The lesson applies to so many of life’s problems. Instead of turning to others to cure the ill, the solution can be effectively provided by the person you visit when you look in the mirror.

[Show #351]

The Christmas Pageant

It was our first Christmas in our first real house. The children were 7, 4 and 3—quite a handful, and so full of the Christmas spirit.

The oldest had learned in school about giving gifts from the heart. She wisely brought home the message that gifts need not be the biggest or the most expensive, to show love. She wanted to give her mom and dad a Christmas gift from the heart. She convinced her little sister and brother to put on a Christmas pageant for us, as our gift.

As the oldest, she played the key role of the Virgin Mary, dressed in one of my frilly white nightgowns. Her sister, complete with aluminum foil halo, was an angel holding a wooden spoon no doubt representing something angelic. Their toddler brother was a shepherd dressed in brown towel tied at the waist with a jump rope. A doll wrapped in white towels represented the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes.

They were so little; and yet they understood the true significance of the day and played it out so lovingly for their dad and me.

All grown up now, they have taught the true meaning of Christmas to their children as well. We all still sing “Happy Birthday Jesus” on Christmas Day, celebrating Him as the reason for the season.

What a joy are memories of significant Christmases past that still bring smiles to our lips and tears to our eyes.

Show #467

Christmas After Katrina And Sandy

After the tragedy of Katrina, we sent a gift to friends who lost everything and wound up living in a 16-foot FEMA trailer. Among the gifts was a garland of tiny wooden Santas for them to hang around the trailer door. There was no room for any other festive stuff.

Turns out the garland was an exact replica of one they had…one that got washed away with the flood waters. It became a tiny reminder that Christmas stuff may get washed away, but happy Christmas memories are with us forever.

Then came Super Storm Sandy, again washing away homes and memories and leaving locals at the mercy of strangers’ generosity for the holidays. Again, Americans from all over the country opened their hearts and their pocket books to help.

Those friends wiped out by Katrina? They finally left the trailer – after getting to know each other REALLY well in those tight quarters. They rebuilt their lives and are doing OK. They are together, they’re happy and they wrote that they hung the Santa garland again this year to remind each other that things could be worse and they do get better.

The folks devastated by Sandy will do the same thing. Life will go on, and before they know it, Christmas will be here, yet again.

Maybe this time, they’ll have the chance to help someone else in need.

It’s what we Americans do.

Show #464

Can Girls Win?

I grew up in a time when women had a different place in life. We were expected to be the wife, home maker and mother. And when it came to competitions with boys, it was not wise to win if you were a girl. The boys . . . and later, the men . . . didn’t like the girls who won.

But there were women who disagreed. They said we should have the same options as men. We should be able to work if we want and also be a home body. We should be allowed to use our gifts and our talents.

Even as we were liberated to join in games and sports, it was somehow expected that when you played with other girls, you could do your best. But when you played with boys, it was so much wiser to let them win, with eyelash batting innocence when they topped us – yet again.

Today the very idea makes me laugh. Somewhere along the way, we figured out that it was OK to win.

With that allowance, we learned the thrill of victory, and never looked back. We can be the top analyst, the team leader as well as the soccer mom – or the soccer player.

I hope we show enough appreciation to those who led the way to this delicious freedom. It was not easy to buck the tide. But they did and they won for us, this freedom – The freedom to WIN, even when you are a girl.

Show #300

Photo credit: Co-ed Soccer by Michael Ireland via DollarPhotoClub

Bring Back Yesterday

Henry Herman is quoted as saying, back in the 1800s – “Oh God, put back the universe and give me yesterday.” Those who have traveled half a dozen decades or more do seem to value their yesterdays more than their tomorrows.

Their yesterdays, it would seem, were better, sweeter, simpler, less demanding. It was a time of sitting on the dock, watching the clouds go by.

Of walking down the lane hand-in-hand. A time without troubles or concerns.

Or perhaps those yesterdays are just the result of selective memory.

They also have tales of having to walk five miles to school, uphill both ways!

Of course TODAY is the yesterday that our kids will remember. How will this time be reflected in their memory? Will they remember too many toys, too many demands, time disappearing into a texting telephone?

What can we do to make today a joyful memory for them? They probably won’t remember who had the biggest toy or the designer book bag. My guess is that they’ll remember who made them feel good, and why.

Make sure you are part of those happy memories for the youngsters in your life.

Show #321

Because She Loves Him

They were leaving that day for a few weeks in Florida. The wife had made her lists, put her stuff together, had check marks on just about everything on the list and was ready to go.

The husband – well, he was still deciding which fishing poles to take. The car had not gotten washed as he planned and not everyone was informed of what was expected of them while the couple was away.

She could find it maddening. Why hadn’t he spent his time doing his share? She could yell, bang around, scold him, and put him down. Instead, she went and read a book, ignoring the sounds of his hustling.

You see, she loves him. And she found out years ago that he is who he is. And not being ready on time is one of his traits. She could hate it and fight it, or she could find a way to cope.

So she stretches the truth a bit, telling him they have to leave at noon, when the actual ETD is 2 p.m. She knows that with a few extra hours, he’ll almost be ready. She’ll then gently remind him of those things he was most likely to forget, and they’ll be on their way – perhaps a little late, but happy.

Sounds like a 1950s sitcom strategy. But it works, because she loves him enough to accept him as he is and to be a managing partner, when necessary. What a wise woman. A master at turning lemons into lemonade. This is the essence of love.

[Show #265]

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