CIJ Day 18: Small ways you can make a HUGE difference this Summer!

As I do every Sunday, I was looking through the paper and found a header on the USA Weekend page that caught my eye. It read "Small ways you can make a huge difference this summer". When I turned to the article, something immediately caught my eye. One of the 21 things to do this summer, is to "Celebrate Christmas Daily".Who would of thought! The article was written by the parents who inspired the movie "Blind Side". Here is what they have to say: "We love to give and to receive presents. It's the whole spirit of the holiday season. We believe Christmas should be every day. That's how it was with us ans Michael. Every day we had Michael was Christmas because we were continually being able to give to him, and it gave us the euphoric feeling. Your whole demeanor changes when you're in that mode. And you don't need to spend money. It can be a gesture or even a comment. The ripple effect that a little act of kindness creates is amazing. Once you're in the groove, you look back and go "How did I ever do this any other way?" The reward for you will be just as great as it is for the people you are reaching out to.   

Book Link:
In a Heatbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving 

Next I wanted to talk about another book and tell a little story. On my trip last week I started reading a book called God Rest Ye Grumpy Scroogeymen.  2 chapters in and I was laughing out loud in the car. I'll try to summarize one of the chapters. It's called "His and Her Trees".  The couple was discussing their first Christmas together and how the wife came home and the husband had surprised her by decorating their small table top tree. He had blinking colored lights and lots of character ornaments. Fun stuff like Snoopy and Mickey Mouse. She tried to hide her disappointment because she had always in visioned her tree with solid white lights and pretty Victorian ornaments. She thanked him for decorating the tree, but when he came home the next day all his character ornaments were conveniently in the back and her tiny teacups and lace were in the front. They came to a compromise and for a couple years the Victoria Tea cups and Mickey ornaments lived happily ever after. When they moved into a home, they decided they needed His and Her trees to get exactly what they wanted and it's been like that ever since.  When I read this I was laughing hysterically because 2 things came to mind. First, my 2 trees at home. I have a Disney tree in the family room downstairs that has solid colored lights and a family tree upstairs that has solid white lights. I would never think of making my lights blink on either tree and I would definately not put colored lights on my family tree. My husbands asked for blue lights and purple lights and I've always outvoted his choice. Sooooo, in the car, we talked and I decided that a few purple LED lights, couldn't possibly hurt and a compromise was reached for this coming Christmas. Then my friend Tammy popped into my head and this was the funniest thing of all. Because, she does have a Beautiful Victorian tree. When she got married, she truly did marry a guy who's 100% kid at heart and wanted those fun things on their tree. Of course, she over ruled and the tree is still Victorian, but he's added a few hints of fun around the house now and she's okay with that.  That chapter hit home so close, I couldn't help but laugh at the two of us. Does it always have to be so serious? Maybe not. So the lesson learned, loosen up a bit and compromise. 

Since my main computer is down, I don't have access to my photos. I've posted these photos as an example and they are not our trees.