Good and Perfect Gifts

"We give gifts to remember the best gift we'll ever receive, Christ. None of the gifts can top that, but we still enjoy being on the look out for something to make our loved ones smile." ~Kathie

When I do a giveaway where I invite you to share stories with me, I'm always so blessed by the comments and stories you share. This Christmas giveaway is no different. (If you haven't entered yet, you can still throw your name in the hat by leaving a comment here with a way to contact you or by e-mailing me from my website. Deadline to enter is December 31.) 

The above comment is from one of my newsletter readers. Kathie likes finding at least one gift every year that will "knock the socks" off the person who receives it. That's the kind of gifts most of us want to give, but it doesn't always happen as evidenced by the gift stories I shared on Sunday.But Kathie loves finding gifts to please her family. 

"I always love to find at least one special gift each Christmas. Something that I just know will knock the socks off the recipient. ....I never really know what that special gift will be until I see it. If I find at least ONE, then I feel like I've succeeded."

Cathie's husband succeeded with a best gift one year. Here's her story. 

"I think the best gift I have ever received was a kitten (total surprise) from my husband, who thought he did not like cats.  He was so secretive and was so excited to give me this gift.  That was true romance!"

When I asked Cathie if I could share her story, she said yes and told me more. 

"The rest of the story is, while my husband did not fall in love with that cat, (she was a one-person cat for 17 1/2 years), he loved the bond between Cecelia and myself - enough so, that he wanted his own! So, after a couple months, we got a cat for him ... Winifred -she got sick after three years and we had to put her down - sad day for Rick and he didn't want to "go through that again" - well, I waited a couple months and for his birthday in November (did you know it is hard to find young kittens in November? - ha) I gifted him a black and white persian.  Madison is now 16 1/2 and he loves her dearly." 

Love the great names Cathie gives her cats. You could imagine them in a cozy mystery. You did know cats solve mysteries, didn't you? I was at a bookstore today and saw several mystery books starring cats.

Last, here are a couple of ideas for Christmas this year or for another year. Something better than a new sweater or slippers. BJM shared her favorite gift. 

"My favorite gift was a Memory Jar that my daughter gave me one year for Christmas. In it she had written, on different pieces of paper, things she remembered growing up. Some made me laugh and some made me cry. In all it was so special to me.

I also made one for my son and daughter one year and also put pictures in theirs. You just get a nice jar with a lid, and you can decorate it or write The Memory Jar on it with a pretty ribbon tied around the top."

Another idea is for someone to prepare the memory jar and then at a big family gathering, let everybody add a memory to it for a grandmother or grandfather. 

This last is a gift Sharon gave from the heart. 

The favorite Christmas gift I gave was ten years ago. My brother died in July and for Christmas, I made a video and talked about his life growing up..  I told stories of our parents and grandparents and life before they were thought about.  The four really appreciated it and my great niece would sometimes ask to see her grandfather's video. It took many hours to write and produce, but it was worth it.

It is very true that the best gift we can give is a gift of love and time.

Hope you find some good gifts to give this year. I doubt I found any perfect gifts but I did find some gifts. Now I've got to get them wrapped. Do you like wrapping presents?

Gifts that Missed the Mark

Millions of gifts will be exchanged this Christmas and while most of them will be greeted with real delight, others will cause little more than stunned silence. Not because the gift is good, but because it's so bad, words won't come. It's the thought that counts as the saying goes, but it is good to know that somebody was thinking!

My daughter-in-law is playing Santa Claus here and I'm sure none of the packages under the tree are worst presents ever. Maybe just worst for a week or two. :) I want to buy good gifts for my kids and grandkids, but often the price tag is a problem. Other times, I just can't find those perfect presents or have no idea what the perfect gift might be.

Here are a couple of stories about gifts that missed the perfect mark. Carla was trying really hard to give the best present ever, but it didn't work out that way. Here's her story.

"I can say that I am good at reading people, listening to the little things they say, picking it up, and surprising them with gifts made especially or picked especially for them. All year I will look find something, store it away, or work on something and hide it away knowing the joy it will bring. How is it that after (at the point of this tale) five years - each Christmas with my husband, his surprise, the well thought out gift, was more of a questionable look on his face wondering who I was shopping for - maybe I should just stick to socks and underwear, pants and shirts - but each year I search for the big surprise.
That year he was reminiscing about high school, being in a band, playing a guitar... ummm. I took this nugget and began my search. He played acoustic, so I began a search with the music stores and dropped at the prices, next the pawn shops - no luck there. Unfortunately, I was rushed in for surgery and found myself bedridden for two weeks but with remote in hand caught myself staring at the magic of Esteban and his guitar with monthly affordable payments.
    The box arrived three days before Christmas, I was so excited and made my way downstairs (against doctor's orders to not take stairs) to put a bow on it. Christmas morning, my dear husband, who had been eyeballing this rather large box both in anticipation and horror, finally found it his to open. The look on his face, I wish I had thought to take a picture - oh, he was surprised, and he tried to like it - but the truth was written right there. Thank goodness for the return policy.

Love that, Carla. Reminds me of when I sneaked around and bought my husband a horse. He was always talking about the horses he'd ridden as a boy. That horse turned out to be problem after problem and one my husband didn't want to deal with. He didn't really want a horse. He just wanted to talk about wanting a horse! A perfect horse. Our little horse was far from perfect.

But Carla's story can't match Jackie's.

"Worst Christmas Gift:  In the early years of our marriage my husband gave me a new shower head for the bathroom and running boards for our vehicle.  Yes, we needed the new shower head, and I wanted the running boards since I am so short, but as my Christmas gifts?  I did not appreciate very much the “community” gifts, shared by my husband and two stepdaughters.  It has been many years now since then, and we usually just shop together after Christmas for something that each of us would like to have."

Jackie knows when to cut her losses and just figure out how to get something she wants. And I like that they wait until after Christmas to get more bang for their bucks. I think that shower head gift tops my husband's worst gift of a floor polisher a couple of Christmases after we married. I had absolutely no interest in polishing the floors in the old farmhouse where we lived at the time with that big floor cleaner machine he gave me. But I did. What a person will do to prove her love! Of course, he really thought he was helping me as I'm sure Jackie's husband did too. Practical guys, but sometimes practical gifts are not what you want under the tree.

Here's something I put in our church bulletin this week for a smile.

Wife to husband: This year let's give each other more practical gifts like socks and fur coats.

Hope all your gifts are the best yet and if you get one that's the worst, maybe a refund or exchange will be possible. 

My Christmas Fun contest is still going strong with more entries coming in. Remember, you can enter by contacting me from my website, www.annhgabhart.com. There's info about it on my News and Events page.  Deadline for entering is midnight EST on 

December 30. And keep the stories coming.

 

The Best Gifts are from the Heart

"The greatest gift is a portion of yourself." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I sent out my newsletter last Sunday letting my reading friends know about my Christmas giveaway contest and then I posted it here on Sunday night and the entries are rolling in. For fun, I asked you to share stories of the best or worst gift you have given anyone or perhaps received. The photo here shows the best gift a grandmother can get - a precious grandbaby. This was my first grandchild. After her, eight more came along and each got their picture under our tree as the best gift of the year. I'm not the only grandmother to feel this way and some of you have said that your best gift ever was a new baby born in December. 

As I always do when you share stories with me, I'm sharing some of them forward. 

Marcy knows that a grandbaby is the best gift ever and so this is the story she shared. "When I found out I was pregnant with my first son, it was early December (many years ago). Since my parents were both gone, I wanted to make the announcement special for my in-laws. I wrapped up little pink and blue baby socks for them for Christmas to tell them our happy news. Needless to say, they were thrilled."

What a fun way to announce a baby on the way!

Then Jane shares a best gift that she received from her mother. "I can't think of a gift I gave anyone that was the best or worst, but the best Christmas gift I ever got was a box full of baby clothes my mother bought for my first baby. He was due in April and she gave me the box for Christmas. I loved getting all the baby little things. It made that Christmas very special and you know, I still think of that gift every single year and my son is now 38 years old."

I wrote back to Jane that I remembered how much fun it was folding and refolding those little baby clothes I gathered and had in the cradle as I awaited the birth of my first baby. The little tiny t-shirts and those gowns with the drawstring bottoms. The soft yellow receiving blankets because then you didn't know if the baby would be a boy or girl until he or she made her way out into the world. Even the diapers were fun to fold then. Jane wrote back and added to her story.

"I spent some time thinking about gifts and realized that it's not always the expensive big ones but the most thoughtful ones that really are appreciated. I think that my Mom giving me that box of baby things just reinforced how much she cared and was looking forward to the baby too. I also remember looking at the little clothes and folding them over and over. Such a special time in our lives and wonderful memories."

 

Here are a couple of other sweet ideas for moms and grandmoms. Babs made a picture of her and her four boys and put it in a frame on a white mat. Then she and the boys each wrote something they loved about her mother on the mat. You can imagine how Babs' mother treasured that gift.

Ola did something sort of the same. She gave her sister-in-law, who loved jigsaw puzzles, a puzzle made from a picture of the sister-in-law's four kids. Don't you know that Mom enjoyed working that puzzle?

That's all this week, but more stories are on the way, including some worst gifts that are sure to bring smiles. If you haven't entered the contest yet, you still have plenty of time. Deadline for entries is midnight EST on December 30. You don't have to share a story to enter, but they are fun. Just let me know if you'd rather I didn't share the story forward. You can check out Sunday's post to see what the prizes are or look on my News and Events Website Page.Thanks for taking part in my Christmas fun. You are all a gift to me. 

Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness. ~Richard Bach

Christmas - a Time for Giving

Christmas is not so much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. ~Janice Maeditere

It's December. Already. How does it get here so quickly? It didn't used to be that way. Do you remember when you were a kid and Christmas Eve seemed like it was three days long? We always had a Christmas dinner and presents at my aunt's house on Christmas Eve. My sisters and I would go over to her house and spend the day. Our aunt, who was like a grandmother to us, pretended we helped her get the meal ready. I did make the punch when I got old enough. Loved that job. Still make the same punch out of orange juice and pineapple juice every Christmas now. But anyway, we'd get everything ready. The presents would be piled under the tree with their enticing promise. Then we'd have to wait for our parents to show up. I don't know what they did on Christmas Eve but whatever it was always took them a loonng time, but it was wonderful when we finally saw them coming across the yard. We could finally eat dinner and get to those presents we were so eager to open.

Gifts of Love

Those wise men started something we all love with those gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We enjoy getting gifts, but we also love giving gifts. And with nine grandkids, I have plenty of chances to enjoy giving some Christmas gifts. I've already been out there shopping and while I was shopping for them, I also went shopping for prizes for a Christmas giveaway for my reading friends.  

Prizes for my Christmas Giveaway

The first prize is a lovely dogwood bloom pillow for the Shaker shop and the winner's choice of one of my books. Second place winner gets three Christmas novellas (pictured above), Melody Carlson's A Simple Christmas Wish, an autographed copy of Sarah's Christmas Miracle by Mary Ellis, and an autographed copy of my Christmas at Harmony Hill. Then for those of you who tell me you "never win" I'll have that extra drawing with the prize a snowman pin and the winner's choice of one of my books. 

How to Enter

You can enter by sending a message from my website, www.annhgabhart.com, or by leaving a comment on my blog here with a way to contact you.  For fun, you can tell me about a gift you gave someone else that was either the best or the worst gift ever. You don't have to share a story to enter, but you can if you want. Remember, you have to say you've never won to enter the extra drawing. The contest is open to USA and Canadian addresses only (sorry, international readers) and you must be eighteen to enter. One entry per person please. Deadline for entries is midnight EST December 30.  

Newsletter and E-Book Sale Prices

I sent out a newsletter today and so I'm already getting entries. I can't wait to start reading all your stories. I'll be sharing a few of them, with permission, here in the next few weeks. By the way if you'd like to get my newsletter and be one of the first to hear about giveaways or discount prices on e-books, just let me know you want to be on my e-mail list. Today I shared the news that the e-book of The Believer was at a reduced price of $2.99 or even lower at Christianbook.com. That may have been only for Sunday. Angels at the Crossroads, the only non-fiction book I've written, is also at a reduced price for the e-book on Amazon. You can read more about both stories on my website.

The Best Gifts

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

Hope you have a wonderful first week of December. And I know the kids don't want this to happen, but I need to slow December down a little to get some of those presents wrapped. :)

Words - A Reason for Thanksgiving

Words 

"Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap." ~George Bernard Shaw

Since I let Wednesday slip away without posting last night, I'm writing this early on Thanksgiving morning. So of course, it is about being thankful. I have so many blessings to count, that I could write them down all day and then nobody would get to eat those mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese I need to cook. The turkey is in the oven and I made the cranberry sauce and chess cake last night. Stay tuned for my very simple chess cake recipe - as long as you're not dieting. :)

But last night as I got ready to go to bed I was thinking about what I could have written if I hadn't forgotten it was Wednesday night and the thought came to me that I was thankful for words. I am so very thankful that I have been given, in some small measure at least, a gift for words. I like words. I like to put them together to make a story. I like reading the way other people put them together to make stories. I like hearing people speak those words to tell a story. I like the sound of words when you read a story aloud to a child whether the words are ones in the dictionary or some arrangement of letters that make up nonsensical words for fun. 

A Big Dream

I am so thankful that I have been able to live my childhood dream of being a writer. That was such a big dream for a little girl growing up on a tobacco farm who had never even met anyone who was a writer. It was such a big dream that even after I had several books published I had a hard time claiming the title of writer out loud. It was as if I thought it might vanish if I became too sure of it. Last Sunday at church we were being thankful for our beautiful fellowship hall that seemed an impossible dream for our little church when we first thought about building it. But now it's built and paid for and a blessing to our church. There's no dream too big for our Lord. 

So that's how it was with that little farm girl who did become a writer with the help of the Lord. Now all these many years of writing later, I can say, without hesitation, I am a writer. I have been blessed by the characters who have come to life in my imagination. And I have been blessed by the readers who have also let my characters come to life in their imaginations. Words are a writer's tool. And I am thankful for those tools. 

"Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for." ~Ray Bradbury

A Simple Recipe Everybody Likes

Now here's that Chess Cake recipe:


1 C butter or margarine
2 C brown sugar, packed
1 C granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 C self-rising flour
1 C chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and flour and then the nuts. Bake in a 13 x 9 inch dish at 350 degrees until lightly brown - approximately 35 minutes. Slice into squares and enjoy. 

Now to Announce the Winner

Melanie Backus is the winner of Jan Watson's autographed novels, Skip Rock Shallows and Tattler's Branch. I'll be in touch, Melanie. Thanks to all of you who commented on Jan's post and on the ones since. A special thanks to those of you who have offered encouraging words and shared your own journeys down the hard path of caring for a loved one with dementia. I'm thankful for each of you. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!