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The Lilly Pond |
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December 16, 2001 - Issue 21 |
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Greetings and thanks for subscribing to TheLillyPond.com ezine! I'm Lillian Hinds and this ezine is dedicated to all mothers, daughters and the other important women in their families. Because we respect your privacy and value your subscription, we don't share your email address with anyone. If you'd like to be removed from our mailing list, please see instructions at the end of this ezine. ================================== Issue 21: In the Pond This Week ================================== 1. Note to My Readers: Update 2. When Christmas Hurts 3. A Carol for Everyone 4. Share The Lilly Pond 5. Contact Me ================================== 1. Note to My Readers: Update ================================== Dear Lilly Ponder: Again, I thank you for your tremendous response to my book "Always Wear Clean Underwear." It has been in my hands for less than 2 weeks and the orders are really keeping us hopping! If it seems that I am "tooting my own horn," well Mother used to say "He that tooteth not his own horn, the same shall not be tooted." I never found it in the Bible, but she said it was in there. And you have made this so exciting and such fun. I wanted to share with you just a few of the comments I have received from those who have ordered a book and read it. "I don't ever read books, and I read this in one sitting!" "This is the cutest book I have read in ages. I need 8 more copies for gifts." "Hope you write another one soon." "Thanks for the smiles and some tears." "What a charming book!" "I'm a P.K. too. This book could have been written about my mom." "I am sure you wrote this book about my mother. It sounds just like the things she used to say and do." "I am especially glad for all the scripture verses you used. That made the book so special." "You truly have a gift for expressing yourself. This was wonderful! I couldn't stop laughing and crying." "I love your style. I'm ready for another one." "I knew and loved your mother when she was alive, and now I love her even more." "The title caught my eye, the beautiful cover made me pick it up but then I read it and the inside never disappointed me for a minute." "We passed it around at work. The cover is so cute and we loved the stories." "I had to put it down for a few minutes because some of the stories really touched my heart. But now I need another copy for my sister." "I bought it for my daughter-in-law because she is pregnant and will need all these lessons!" If you haven't ordered your copy yet, don't wait. You really don't want to miss out. You can order on the website at thelillypond.com When you get your book, please drop me an email at lil@thelillypond.com and let me know what you think. We are still shipping orders for Christmas by Priority Mail at no charge. As you probably know, delivery schedules at the Postal Service are a little longer and a little more variable this year due to the recent attacks so we can't guarantee delivery by Christmas. So, first, you need to hurry and get your order in. We are turning orders around in one day so the sooner you order, the better chance you have that your books will arrive by the 24th. Second, we are extending the deadline for free Priority Shipping from the December 18th until December 31st. Every order received for shipment within the U.S. or Canada will be shipped by Priority Mail at no charge. If you get a book for a Christmas present and want to order more, we will still be shipping for free after Christmas also. Third, we are now set up to accept payment by PayPal. So if you have a PayPal account on the Internet, payment is even more convenient. Bob (the brother) are I will both be taking a little time off next week, but we will still have a brief Christmas ezine for you next week. Then we will pick back up with our Teen Series "Who's That Stranger Living in My Little Girl's Room"the week after Christmas. Thanks again to each of you and Merry Christmas! With all my heart, Lillian ================================== 2. When Christmastime Hurts ================================== The songs tell us "It's the most wonderful time of the year," or "We need a little Christmas, right this very minute!" How about "I'll be home for Christmas," and "all is calm; all is bright." I love the familiar songs and carols as much, if not more, than the next person and I start listening to Christmas music just as soon as my children will tolerate them (or as soon as they walk out the door). But often, for many of us, it does not seem like the most wonderful time of the year. Many people dread the holidays. There are lots of reasons that the Christmas season seems to ring in something horrible rather than something joyful. Maybe you've gone through a divorce during the past year. As you begin making your plans around "it's my year to have him on Christmas Day and you can pick him up after lunch," you realize that your holidays will never be the same again. Or perhaps your child faces disappointment because their other parent was supposed to visit with them for the holidays and something happened to prevent that. Sometimes divorce means a new home and even new Christmas decorations. The familiar things that you have loved and that bring a feeling of comfort and peace to you are gone. Perhaps this year brought the death of someone close to you. Maybe you lost your "better half" and truly feel that you have been ripped apart. I know one man whose wife died at Christmas. When putting away the decorations, he began to cry and shouted, "I don't ever want to see these things again!" Christmas without your spouse seems bleak and pointless. Why even put up a tree? Or maybe you lost your mother or father this year. When we loose our parents, we are reminded even more vividly that we are no longer a child to be protected and comforted; but that we are the adults, the parents. After my mother died, I felt as if a covering had been ripped off of me and I was more exposed than I had ever been. Many of you have suffered the loss of close friends, family members, even children. These seem even more difficult when they occur around the holidays. One woman recently wrote me that last year her young granddaughter died on Christmas Eve. This will be a difficult anniversary for her family. There are many types of loss and so much heartache and misery in the world. And perhaps due to the expectation that at this time of the year more than any other, our lives should be joyous, wonderful, sparkling, and fulfilling, we feel instead even more alone, more of a failure, more despondent. There have been times of heartache in my life when December began to roll around, and I wondered if I could even "do Christmas." I didn't want any presents, I didn't want to decorate my home. Sending out Christmas cards was not even an option. I didn't want to go through the motions of pretending that everything was okay when I was hurting so badly. And then (this never fails) I would get one of those Christmas letters telling me how wonderful someone's life had been and how perfect all their children were and how successful and happy they all were. Yuk! Who are these people and why do they keep sending me these letters? Where are the real letters that say "It looks like Mom will get out on parole in time for Christmas and if Cousin Will makes it through detox, we should have the whole family together for the first time since Grandpa ran off with that stripper." I don't have a plan or a guaranteed way to keep you from struggling through the holidays, especially if you've had a bad year. But hopefully, these suggestions will provide you a little relief. Know that they come from my heart and that I pray daily for those of you who read my ezine. Obviously, I can't call you by name. But God knows who you are. And I am counting on Him to provide you with comfort during this time of year. By now you know I am going to make a list. So here goes. 1. Do something to acknowledge Christ. Lest we forget, the purpose of this entire season is to remember that Christ came into the world to save us. When the holiday madness threatens to overtake your senses, think about one of my favorite names for Jesus: "Immanuel" which means "God with us!" John 1:1-2 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." Can you truly grasp that God came to be with us? The first Christmas in Bethlehem wasn't special because it was beautiful or sparkling or lavish. It was special because Jesus was there. And anyone who knew about the birth came and worshipped him. Include time to worship this Christmas. Philippians 2:5-11 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; And, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father." 2. Do something for someone around you. You may be completely numb and feeling as if you can't even function. You're just "going through the motions." But keep going. Someone close is having a harder time than you are and they need you. Someone within an arm's reach of you needs you to keep going for them. Maybe you have a child that is just as confused as you are about the loss you have experienced. Maybe your parent or neighbor will be alone for the first time this year. Don't try to make everything just like it's always been. Don't try to work up a feeling that's simply not going to be there. Just try to make the holiday be the best you can make it. And include the people around you that need a hand and a heart from you. Matthew 26:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" 3. Allow someone to help you, too. Maybe this needs to be the year to have dinner at someone else's house. Or to even let someone help you shop. Many of us have a hard time accepting help from others. Someone might be trying to reach out to you in your sorrow. Let that person have the blessing of giving this year. This might be a year that you just have to "get through." (So let someone else do those dishes!) John 13:5 "After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." I want to leave you with one of my favorite verses of scripture. Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." If you feel that the holidays are whirling around you; out of control, pointless and meaningless, turn your mind to God. Ask Him for the peace that only He can give. My prayer for each of you is that you will have a safe, joyful and blessed holiday. And if joy is not an option for you this year, I pray that "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). Amen. With all my heart, Lillian ================================== 3. A Carol For Everyone ================================== Wherever you are in your journey, whether you are preparing for a joyous celebration of Christ's birth or you are feeling every pound of "life's crushing load" and bracing for a "less than picture perfect" occasion, there is one Christmas Carol that's just for you. Please consider it prayerfully. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear Words: Edmund H. Sears 1810-1876 Music: Richard S. Willis 1819-1900 It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold: "Peace on the earth, good will to men, From heaven's all gracious King:" The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. Still thro' the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled, And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world: Above its sad and lowly plains They bend on hovering wing, And ever o'er its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing. And ye, beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow, Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing: O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing. For lo, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold, When with the ever-circling years Comes round the age of gold; When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling, And the whole world give back the song Which now the angels sing. My prayer for you this Christmas is that you'll find just a moment during this busy season to "rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing." With all my heart, Lillian ================================== 4. Share The Lilly Pond ================================== If you know someone who would enjoy having The Lilly Pond ezine, please feel free to forward this issue to them. If you received this ezine from a friend and you'd like to subscribe, you can go to http://www.TheLillyPond.com and subscribe for free or just click here to send an email to us with "SUBSCRIBE" in the Subject line. Thanks. ================================== 5. Contact Me ================================== Your comments are welcome. Click here to email me. Thanks for reading! With all my heart, Lillian ================================== |
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