Not a bah humbuger, but!

[Ian Gentles]

Lets not forget why some dont like they season,

1 They are lonely.

2 Its full of sad memories.

3 they really can afford it.

Of course christmas is nice, but not for all, lets never forget this!


http://iangentles.livejournal.com

[Linda Schroller]

Oh Ian, I have to reply to this.

Lonely at Christmas? Only if we choose to be. We have moved all over following the oil fields. Never arrived anywhere where there were not churches full of people to be with. Never found one without other people needing friendly visits (nursing homes, hospitals, orphanages, neighbors, even harried sales people in stores can use a friendly greeting and compliment.) If we could not be with family or friends, we found folks needing a place to celebrate and invited them to do so with us. (Ever try making a full Thanksgiving dinner in a camper oven for other workers? Best fun ever, especially when the blizzard socked everyone in.)

Sad memories? We all have them. I think every family circle is broken. Everyone has had tragedies. Some sit and stew over them. Others get busy making new memories. Our dear son will not be with us this Christmas, but I will celebrate with him in the hereafter. So this year I will find someone else to give my love to instead. I will do all I can to enjoy the fact that for a whole month the world, deliberately or unknowingly, will witness to my Savior. Every light, every candy cane, every decoration or advertisement will sing "Jesus has come. Jesus has come. Jesus has come!" and there is redemption.

Can't afford it? Bosh and humbug. The best gifts I ever got were handwritten notes on scrap paper as someone offered to do a chore for me, or to spend time with me, or to pray for me. Junk mail abounds, so scrap paper is available even to the pauper. The Christmas dinners I most remember were not the lavish ones, but the simple pinto beans and cornbread get togethers my dear aunt threw, or the simple soup and cracker ones my mom did, or the one a total stranger invited us to attend at her house, picking us up at the motel when dh was running pipe on Christmas day, and the kids and I had travelled from North Dakota to Wyoming to be with him.

It costs NOTHING to wander the stores and enjoy the decorations, the colors, the smells, the sparkle and shine. It costs nothing to read the account in Luke.

It costs nothing at all to enjoy Christmas. And it can give us such happy hearts!

[Ian Gentles]

Many are simply lonely, often the elderly.
We all tick differently about sad memories, what works for one may not for another, esp if there in no eternal hope in their situations.
Despite your excellent advice, Christmas goes better when folks can afford a little without breaking a bank, or going into debt.

What you folks do in oil fields? Have contacts in Oklahoma who have been, are, involved in the wells.

http://iangentles.livejournal.com

[Gina Stevenson]

Linda, that one got saved in the "NazNet Inspiration" file ... in case I really need it ... if a case of "Poor Me"s hits around Christmastime. Thanks. ;)

[Barbara Moulton]

Linda...if I could have clicked "super thanks" I would have.

You might have seen my request above for the advent calendar quotes. Can I use some of your excellent words?

[Barb Bouldrey]

Oh, at first I thought I read, "Bad Hamburger."

LOL

Just had to add some humor.

Holidays are lonely for many people. It seems that when we see families gathering and we have no family around us it makes us feel sad and lonely.

So many times over these 38 years we have lived too far from family to be with them at Thanksgiving and a lot of Christmases. After growing up in a large family with large gatherings at holidays, it was hard to adjust being in the ministry far from them.

But we learned to adjust. I always adopted others with no family to share holiday meals with us....even Mothers and Fathers Days.

I remember one Thanksgiving when the 3 of us decided to drive out of town for Thanksgiving Dinner. I could not find anyone to invite to my home and noone invited us to join them. As we drove through the countryside we passed all these homes surrounded by lots of cars....family gatherings.

By the time we got to Shoneys where they offered a complete turkey dinner, I was so down that I ordered a hamburger.

Bah hamburger.....lol

Barb

[Linda Schroller]

Thanks to those with kind words!

Barb, I hear ya! We spent a couple of Christmases in motels in order to be with dh. We lived way too far away to spend them with family even when dh was with us. As long as dh and kids and I were together, we felt like we WERE one of those family gatherings.

Holidays were rough for my mom when first widowed. My dad died right before Thanksgiving. It was from her that I learned we can choose to delight in the pleasures of the season, and in love, even if only remembered, or we can choose to be unhappy. I am lazy, so I find it always easier to do what makes me happy.

A lady in our SS class often speaks of her mom. Her last years were in a nursing home, and family could not always make it to be with her. (Mountain town and blizzards.) Her mom considered her nursing home placement her calling and ordination into full time ministry. She visited everyone, resident and staff, daily. She witnessed, preached, hugged, cried with, and generally ministered to all. Bedfast, she could pray. And she could spend more time with the few that came to her room. What an inspiration! And although long dead, she continues to "teach" the ladies of my church today.

Barbara, use all you want. I am honored.

[Linda Schroller]

Ian--sorry, I didn't mean to ignore your question.

Maternal grandpa, from Oklahoma and later east Texas, was a pumper, as was his son.

My dad was roustabout, gangpusher, pumper, superintendent, and finally part owner. (Tiny part. My bro and I clear about $150 yearly each in a good year with the estate.)

Dh was sales rep, roustabout, pumper, lease supervisor, drilling foreman, back to pumper, optimizer, pumper, and now retired. I dearly love the people and the can-do independent spirit of the "oilies." I loved the living in remote locations, the travel, and the moving all up and down the Rockies, border to border.

Most of all I loved meeting God's people in each new "adventure."

[Ian Gentles]

Ian--sorry, I didn't mean to ignore your question.

Maternal grandpa, from Oklahoma and later east Texas, was a pumper, as was his son.

My dad was roustabout, gangpusher, pumper, superintendent, and finally part owner. (Tiny part. My bro and I clear about $150 yearly each in a good year with the estate.)

Dh was sales rep, roustabout, pumper, lease supervisor, drilling foreman, back to pumper, optimizer, pumper, and now retired. I dearly love the people and the can-do independent spirit of the "oilies." I loved the living in remote locations, the travel, and the moving all up and down the Rockies, border to border.

Most of all I loved meeting God's people in each new "adventure."

Oil fields have rough jobs, all hard work, and sadly many loose their fingers etc.

[Linda Schroller]

Yes!! Dh is a polio survivor with a bad leg, so I really worried about him. Dear Bro was born legally blind, but worked in the fields from age 16 til retirement round age 58. Scary!!

I have a cousin who many years ago moved to England. It absolutely amazes me to be "talking" with you this afternoon!!

We are sunny today, with a warm 60 or so degrees. Smoke from the California fires is making it a bit stinky outside. (I am in Colorado.)

What is England like today?

[Laurie Florence]

It costs nothing at all to enjoy Christmas. And it can give us such happy hearts!

I put up a few (o.k., maybe more than "a few") Christmas decorations today. Then I put on a Christmas CD. Anyway, one of my husband's friends visited and, before he left, said: "Honestly, since I entered this house, I feel happier. It must be the Christmas spirit". There's just something about the Christmas season ..... :)

[Barbara Moulton]

I put up a few (o.k., maybe more than "a few") Christmas decorations today. Then I put on a Christmas CD. Anyway, one of my husband's friends visited and, before he left, said: "Honestly, since I entered this house, I feel happier. It must be the Christmas spirit". There's just something about the Christmas season ..... :)

Nice Laurie.

Might also have something to do with the people who live in the house. :)

[Ian Gentles]

Yes!! Dh is a polio survivor with a bad leg, so I really worried about him. Dear Bro was born legally blind, but worked in the fields from age 16 til retirement round age 58. Scary!!

I have a cousin who many years ago moved to England. It absolutely amazes me to be "talking" with you this afternoon!!

We are sunny today, with a warm 60 or so degrees. Smoke from the California fires is making it a bit stinky outside. (I am in Colorado.)

What is England like today?

Answering on Saturday 5th

Its actualy been mild all week, not bad weather at all.

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

We have had some very lonely holidays--so far as being away from family. It bothered me more at Christmas. When our oldest daughter got married, her husband promised me, that we would not have anymore lonely Christmases. They have lived nine miles from us for years, but it is still "the kids" coming home for the holidays now.

Also, we have had a man, whose wife passed away May 1989, with us for Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners, most of the time, since then. Tonight, we are in a motel in Missouri, because we came to visit with him. He is here with his wife's sister and her husband now. His cancer is not shrinking, and the doctor is sending hospice nurses to see about him. He is 81 years of age now. We met him in 1979.