Hope your holidays are simply fun so far this year; low on stress and high on the magic. We had over 100 people at our house on Sunday night. It was very close fellowship. I’m helping my dad put up his tree tonight and hanging up some of the same glass balls that I hung on the tree when I was six years old. It gives me a feeling that I’m glad to have for a short time, but I wouldn’t want to dwell on for too long. It makes me wish for a time in that happy little living room at 941 Lynn Dale Lane before I knew about lots of stuff that brings adult stress (and surely before I ever thought I would have a house in which 100 people would fit, even shoulder to shoulder!). It makes me miss my mother. It makes me think about orange shag carpet with that big floor furnace patched in and chocolate peanut butter balls and a little ceramic tree that Aunt Claudine made (which I put up in my daddy’s dining room window, tonight, by the way). It makes me think about the passage of time and the value of family and the hope that we have in Christ.
So, get sentimental or bittersweet or even melancholy and send me your favorite holiday memory in 150 words or less. Send me something that will make us all appreciate family more—you know… something profound or humorous spoken by a young child, some amazing feat of a grandfather, the holiday cheer brought during hard times by a neighbor, or the Christmas letter of a soldier. God has been good…so good …to all of us. So tell me about it. Send your entry to byhcontest@gmail.com. Put the word “contest” in the subject line. Remember to include your contact info (name, email address, postal address and phone number). Be sure to limit your entry to 150 words. The winner’s submission will be featured in the “Bless Your Heart” blog on Christmas Eve and the winner will receive five free products of her choice from the Colley Books website (www.colleybooks.org).
So get to reminiscing while you’re wrapping it up for Christmas. And get your email off before noon on December 20th. Then be sure and read the blog on December 24th.
