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Holiday Contest

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Winner #5: Leah Wright


Here’s the sweet MawMaw with Leah’s middle child…

Reasons I love this final one: I love the fact that the grandmother’s handmade photo ornaments were more important to her than anything store-bought. (The store-bought ornaments were the discarded ones.)  I love the fact that even the handmade ornaments did not have to be labor-intensive or expensive to make. Kids just need recognition, a sense of belonging in the group, and a place in the process. That’s really all that matters to them. And I love that Leah took the time to be a poet! Happy Holidays. It’s  been a magical time so far at our house.  Like Fred, in A Christmas Carol …”I say, ‘God bless it!'”

If you are missing someone dear this year, or struggling, like some for whom I am praying hard, with some huge challenge in life, I am praying that 2025 can be a year that holds a new peace and comfort for you.  Thank you for praying for the Colleys. We continue to be so dependent on His mercies.

 

 

Like most of us, I have special memories of my grandmother, affectionately known as MawMaw to us five grands. And if you ask any of us what we remember most I feel pretty confident the tree would make the list. From the time of our birth, each year, she created a new ornament with our picture. Some years it was a clay creation with the picture glued to the front. Other years it might be a crocheted snowflake with our picture in the center, or even a foil cupcake liner with our picture nestled inside.
 Every year in the weeks before Christmas we would all go over for a meal and each cousin would get to hang all their ornaments on the tree. When we were younger we would add other ornaments too, but with five cousins and five ornaments added every year, there came a time when her tree was only these picture ornaments.
I don’t remember exactly when she stopped doing this but I do know we were all grown. They had moved to a new home and we all had a present that looked the same. She gifted each of us a box containing all of our ornaments. There was so much love in those boxes.

Leah’s family this year…

For MawMaw
Every year our picture was taken
We knew Mawmaw would be busy makin’
A homemade new ornament for the tree,
With our smiling face for all to see.
Paper, cardboard, maybe clay,
Foil and ceramic and even crochet.
She made Christmas special in her own crafty way.
Her love for us, on display.
I look back now, because she raised the bar.
And realize just how grand, grandmothers are.

Leah Wright

And from A Muppet Christmas Carol, I would echo the lyrics from this song. I don’t want to trivialize prayer  or the holiness of our God, but this is true: It is when we reach for Him, that we stand tallest. It is when we consider our smallness that we can approach His greatness.

Life is full of sweet surprises/Every day’s a gift/The sun comes up/And I can feel it lift my spirit/Fills me up with laughter/Fills me up with song/I look into the eyes of love/And know that I belong/Bless us all/Who gather here.The loving family I hold dear.

No place on Earth/Compares with home/And every path will bring me back from where I roam.

Bless us all/That as we live/We always comfort and forgive.

We have so much/That we can share.With those in need we see around us everywhere/Let us always…

Love each other.

Lead us to the light/Let us hear…

The voice of reason.

Singing in the night.

Let us run from anger.

And catch us when we fall.

Teach us in our dreams/And please, yes, please…

Bless us one and all.

Bless us all/With playful years/With noisy games and joyful tears.

We reach for you/And we stand tall.

And in our prayers and dreams, we ask you, Bless us all.

We reach for you/And we stand tall/And in our prayers and dreams, we ask you, Bless us all.

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Winner #4: Rachel Valentin

I love this submission for a few reasons. One is the memory of snuggling in a blanket and the tie of that memory to a new blanket this year that’s sure to be Gram’s favorite for all the rest of her years on earth. I love to think of the “snuggle”  in which we rest, as His children  (I Samuel 25: 29) and the way he slings from that bundle His enemies, as with a sling. He provides a bundle of security for us.
I also love the way it emphasizes the gift of memory and the blessing of light.
Finally, I love the way it presents family tradition as a treasure. It is, you know. Children who grow up with traditions, grow up with security and belonging in family. They are part of  the “in crowd” because they are in on the traditions! And I truly LOVE the reference to Titus 2 traditions!
Here’s Rachel’s submission:
My favorite memories of Christmas with my Gr

am are always around the tree. Growing up we had a tree that had lights and sang tunes when it was turned on. We used to snuggle up on the couch together with a cozy blanket and just be together. 

There’s something magical about sitting in the dark with all the twinkly Christmas lights surrounding you and looking at each ornament and the special memories they bring back. 

Our town also had a tradition of handing out paper bags and candles to each house so you could light up the sidewalks with luminaries. It was always so beautiful to drive around and see the unity of the town as it put out a soft glow of love to those who drove by.  

This year we lost my Pop, my Grandma’s husband of 67 years. She lives an hour away from me and I am moving her up by me before Christmas so my family can take care of her. 

For Christmas I made her a blanket with all of Pops most favorite shirts on it. I’m hoping it brings her comfort and when she looks at it she can think back on all the good memories. 

My Grandma is the reason I am who I am today. She made sure I was at church every time the doors were open. I owe her everything and I love her dearly. 

I’m hoping to surround her with all the love and time she poured into training me up in the way I should go this Christmas. I pray my girls can bring her joy and peace during the sadness of not having Pop to celebrate this year, and I hope she has a few more Titus 2 moments in her to share with her great granddaughters. 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Winner #2: Maxine Knoll

 

                                                                      

I love the “grandkids’ tree.” What a great idea! Here’s Maxine’s letter:

Nana’s Memories

I have a special tree that is the “Grandkids’ tree”. I am sharing with you Christmas memories
that hang on this tree, and then others. We have made Santas out of paintbrushes, bells out of
miniature flower pots that are painted and then fingerprints are added. Handprints were drawn and
cut out for me one year. Another time, we colored ornaments. Homemade ornaments of their
imagination have been given to me.

One year, I asked for an ornament with a memory between us. A chocolate chip cookie
ornament was given because I bake cookies! A “Love you to the Moon and Back” ornament was given
because that is what I tell them!

Another year, I had the grands paint plates for me to display. I also had them do a table runner
for me with their handprints. They made a picture that included their thumb prints and deer antlers
for my “Deer Grandchildren”.

One Christmas, I had them all write a letter to me telling me about their dreams and including
something special about their grandaddy and me.

This year, they are all taking a bought ornament ball and putting their name and fingerprint on the ornament.

(I wish I could show you the pictures of the items she mentions. They were sweet, but not in a format I could transfer here. I’m still glad for the entry of the “grandkids’ tree! Remember, the point is developing intergenerational relationships that help bring little souls to heaven!)

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Holiday Contest 2024…All about the Grandmothers!

Do you have your tree up yet?  It’s time to get the stockings hung again. I hope you can make The Colley House a part of your gift giving this year.

We, at The Colley House, would like to be the givers, each Christmas, too! Four lucky winners will receive $25.00 gift cards in your email on December 16th. Here’s how you enter:

Write, in 200 words or less, what special grandmother holiday memory you have. It can be about some special memory with your grandmother from your own childhood…OR…it can be a memory you, as a grandmother are currently making or have made with your grandkids. It can even be some happy idea you’ve learned from another grandmother. It can be about her tree, the smell of her cookies or your own baking traditions with your grands. It can be about the holiday traditions that are between your mama and your kids. Just two things are essential: Your writing has to include something about a grandmother AND it has to include something about the Christmas holidays.  It can include a recipe, a poem, a song, or a photo with caption (and none of those addendums will count in the 200 word limitation.)

Winner will be chosen on December 13th and gift cards will be emailed that weekend, so you can get your free item(s) back in time for holiday giving. Only submissions emailed to byhcontest@gmail.com will be considered. By submitting, you give permission for your submission to be printed on The Colley House site.

We hope you all have the best of holidays and that your new year is filled with HIS abundance. We are excited about a couple of new products we will be completing (three, actually and prayerfully) in 2025, so stay tuned.

 

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Winner #5–Carol Laney

The final winner of the TCH holiday contest this year is Carol Laney. She wants to give her Colley House gift certificate to the originator of this recipe for mac and cheese. Macaroni and  cheese is a family-gathering-staple at our house.  What better time for a southern girl to overdose on dairy and starches than just before her New Year’s resolutions are made? (Yes, there’s a sad, but usually true implication about resolutions there!) Just click on this worn copy and you’ll have one more kid-pleaser for your holiday dinner! Congrat’s Carol and Marva!

From Carol:

Thank you for offering this contest! 
My recipe is the “BEST EVER Macaroni and Cheese”. If I win please gift the gift card to Sister Marva Johnson because it’s her recipe. She attends the LaFayette church of Christ in LaFayette GA. She is precious and I’ve used this recipe many times (as you can tell by the paper) with grand reviews and lots of lip smacking. I always “grade” my recipes after I make them so when I want to make something I know which recipe has been cooked, tasted and approved (not just by me but others)! 
Carol Laney
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Winner #4: Tracy Parsons

My sweet husband loves to cook and when he surprises us with his amazing homemade rolls, the whole room lights up. The warm, buttery rolls bring us comfort on these cold, dark nights. It’s a reminder to always be thankful for your blessings. God is so good to us!
Yeast Rolls

1 stick of salted butter

Melt the butter to liquid

Stir in 1.5 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of salt 

In a separate glass mason jar add 2 cups of hot water and stir in 1 tbsp of rapid rise yeast. 

Add water and yeast mixture to sugar and salt in bowl. Mix in 3 cups of King Arthur all purpose flour, proof for 30 mins. After dough has risen, lightly dust the dough in the bowl with flour to make it workable with your hands. Roll it onto a floured baking mat, cut out individual sized rolls (we use a small mason jar for perfect circles).

Bake at 350 approximately 10 minutes and enjoy! 

Happy Holidays,

Tracy Parsons 🎄