Simple Things Make A Joyous Christmas.

Some of the simplest things make up my fondest Christmas memories.

I thought all children received only one gift at Christmas until Miss Aylie Pentecost instructed each student in first grade to stand, one at a time, and rattle off what Santa had brought him or her.

After listening to the other kids recite their long lists, I decided to add to mine. It was the first time I remember telling a lie. Even at the age of six, I knew it was wrong.

It was embarrassing enough to attempt to speak in front of the class. Worse when guilt crept over me as I stammered, “I got a baby doll, a spinning top, a set of jacks, and a teddy bear that plays a xylophone when I pull it across the floor."

In reality, all I got that Christmas was a rubber baby doll with a plastic head and no hair. Not the Baby Tears or Betsy Wetsy I'd seen in the Sears Wishbook. 

I can close my eyes even now and remember the smell of that rubber doll and feel the texture of the soft pink blanket wrapped around her. The other toys I claimed to have received were either from a previous Christmas or belonged to one of my siblings.

I wondered if the other kids had fibbed about their gifts. I was sure one boy did because he took ten minutes to get through his list.

I think I was eleven when on Christmas Eve, Mama took my siblings, Jewell, Paul, and me to the Ben Franklin and gave us each a dollar bill with which to select and buy our own Christmas gifts. The dollar didn't buy much, but I was excited to find a plastic soldier attached to a parachute. It is the only gift I remember from that year.

My siblings and I each bought one. The temps were mild, in the 50s that Christmas Day. We took our plastic soldiers outside, threw them high in the air and watched them drift to the ground. We enjoyed playing with our parachute toys for hours, laughing and guessing which would stay in the air longest.

Mama never knew it, but Jewell, Paul and I climbed on the roof over the carport to throw our parachute soldiers from a higher altitude. We had a blast that Christmas and paid only 39 cents each for our toys.

In our family, all seven children had a box. Each box was placed under the tree on Chrismas Eve. On Christmas morning, we found fruit, nuts, candy and usually one gift in each box.

Daddy often made a fruitcake on Christmas Eve. Mama, my siblings and I, took bowls and sat around the living room or at the kitchen table, cracking pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts to go in it. We didn't include the yucky gummy candies in our fruitcake. Ours had real fruit in the batter, like oranges and pineapple. It was delicious!

I can't emphasize enough that the simple things make the Christmas season joyful. Joy comes from families laughing together, singing Christmas songs about the Savior's birth, and enjoying each other's company.

Most importantly, as we gather around the feasts on our tables,  let's remember we only celebrate Christmas because of God's special gift to the world--a perfect baby born in a stable and laid in a manger of straw, long, long ago.

My prayer for you is that you surround yourselves with family and loved ones this Christmas, and cherish the time you have left with them. With that said, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Since she met him at a cookout, Jill suspects there is more to Rob than meets the eye. But every time Jill questions him about his childhood, he clams up or uses an excuse to leave. Jill is falling for Rob, but something is troubling him. What is Rob hiding? Will Jill's discovery make or break their relationship? 

A heartwarming, emotional romance with a large dose of intrigue and humor--by Laurean Brooks

https://www.amazon.com/Over-Coals-Laurean-Brooks-ebook/dp/B075H3WF92/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Over+the+coals+by+Laurean+Brooks&qid=1576725335&s=digital-text&sr=1-1