ClydeStyle

Tag: Christmas

  • Grieving doesn’t have to ruin Christmas

    Every year, without fail, some family is dealing with the loss of a loved one, and it is their first holiday season without the deceased.

    It hurts. There is a serious sense of loss, confusion, anxiety, and sadness. The world has moved on where these families are stuck in time… grieving.

    The following are some real solutions to how to handle this difficult time. Tradition is very powerful, and in our subconscious, we want to make this time of the year as normal as possible. But we don’t have to. The acknowledgment that your family is experiencing one of life’s difficulties is therapeutic. In times like these, we should listen to our bodies. The body will let you know what it can handle.

    1) Cancel Christmas! Treat Santa like you do when you don’t want to participate in trick or treat festivities. You just simply turn your porch light off! Don’t even put up a tree. Christmas will be over before you know it. This gives you the time to reflect and put some things in perspective.

    2) Embrace the alone time and quietness. You have full permission to cry and be alone — there is nothing wrong with that. Especially if you use the time wisely. You always need time to plan and think about your path forward. There may need to be changes made. This is the time to do it! It’s like you’re hibernating until the new year!

    3) Huddle up! This is where you gather together in one place the remaining people who serve a major purpose in your life and you spend the holiday in memory and in celebration of who you lost. This is the private time where each person let’s the other know how important they are, and you can Christmas as a time to express it!

    4) Get out! It’s time to take that special trip you have been wanting to take. Traveling can be very therapeutic, especially if you go to a place that does not celebrate the holidays as we do. This will allow you to retool, relax, and grieve peacefully.

    5) Create and memorial or ritual. This is something you create to honor your loved one. You might plant a tree, create a new ritual, and spend time with specific people. The point is two things: to establish a memorial and bond with close friends.

    Whatever you choose to do, listen to your body. Make sure you eat, get rest, and don’t be afraid to be sad.

  • Are we even seeking higher ground?

    Let’s talk about purpose. Not purpose from our country as a whole, I’m talking about individuals. We the people who live and dwell in this Christian society, are we seek higher ground?

    By higher ground, I mean a different space than the one we occupied that had a need for a civil rights movement. Higher ground meaning a created space where everyone is treated equally, and you can tell by the way they all prosper.

    A space where opportunities are abundant and there is no need to punish people for crimes of poverty. A place where various races see each other as a benefit and we work together in a way that benefits all.

    The need to hate is done away with in this space. Struggling to make ends meet is a thing of the past and freedom rings.

    This higher ground is especially for the disabled, the mentally challenged, those who are sick, and those who are weak. There is no bullying there.

    Innovation and education lead, and everyone there can read. In this space, the oldest politicians are in their 60s, and getting elected has nothing to do with your finances.

    Laws are made to help society advance, and we take care of home before helping other countries.

    It is said that this is the season to make dreams come true. I guess I’m looking for these things to take place someday at Christmas!

  • Great time to create family rituals

    One of the greatest days in a child’s life is today — the eve of Christmas. This day for me growing up was always filled with great anticipation and food preparation.

    There were 5 children living at home and my parents not only made Christmas happen for us each year, but fed our family and extended family with an incredible feast with all the standards: Turkey and dressing with ham and Swedish meatballs. Mac n cheese, yams, collard greens, broccoli casserole and 7-layer salad.

    Desserts were in abundance as well with sweet potato pies, yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting and a carrot cake. We all had Christmas baskets with various trinkets, fruits and nuts.

    If we were poor (and according to my parents we were) we could not tell. If there was another way to live, we didn’t want it. Our house was surrounded by love.

    When I grew up and had my own family, both my wife and I shared similar traditions which we continued with our family. Our kids were completely spoiled having more toys than they could handle and tons of food. Christmas songs played all the time throughout our house starting on Thanksgiving and ending on New Year’s Day.

    It was important to us to build these type of memories within the mind of our children. In a world full of trouble and problems, this was the time of year where thongs were supposed to work right!

    Be mindful of what your children digest from the environment you placed the in. Go all out and give them something wonderful to remember and pass down to the next generation. This is the best time to create family rituals!

  • The reason for this season

    Christmas time is here! We are right in the midst of the holiday season and most things are quite festive and beautiful!

    I love Christmas! I loved it as a child, I loved it while raising my own children and now I still enjoy it with my granddaughter! My family does it pretty big! As part of our tradition we can’t help but think about why our lifestyle is possible.

    Despite the ills of America we are enjoying a wonderful life, guilt-free because of the blood of Christ! All of our blessings come directly from him!

    Like the Ark, the bible tells of the story of Noah and his family’s obedience to the will of God in building an ark for the saving of souls. The time of building gave him the opportunity to preach a warning message to the people to surrender their sinful ways and serve God.

    Noah preached about 100 years while the ark was being prepared but only 8 souls were saved. The point is God made a way for those souls to be saved by being in the safe zone of that ark. As long as they were in the ark nothing could harm them.

    Being in Christ works the same way today! Those of us in Christ will be the recipients of his propitiation — meaning to avert the wrath of God by the offering of a gift! Jesus was that perfect gift/ark and those who have entered the ark or been baptized into his death (smae thing) we have made it to the safe zone and will be saved at judgment day.

    Jesus is our ark. He is our safe place and if the nation wants to recognize him coming during this time of the year, I’m all for it! Merry Christmas everybody!!

  • How black was Friday?

    So this past weekend we celebrated all the things we were thankful for. Then over the weekend we participated in the newest holiday on our calendars – Black Friday.

    This tradition had a very humble beginning and had nothing to do with shopping. The term was born in 1966 in Philadelphia where the city used this term to describe the extra flow of traffic (particularly pedestrians) on the day after Thanksgiving. It wasn’t until 1975 that this saying spread beyond PA.

    Historians are divided on whether or not the day referred to the amount of Black people walking the streets of Philadelphia or vehicle traffic in general. The media helped to dramatize this day by claiming it was the busiest shopping day of the year.

    Truth be told, the Saturday before Christmas has held this title for years. It wasn’t until 1993 that the day after Christmas became the number one shopping day. Black Friday did not have the title of number one shopping day consistently until 2005 and it has been the number one shopping day since.

    Capitalism’s favorite holiday is reported to be off to a great start. There were more shoppers out spending money than in recent years and this year it started a day early! There was much debate about companies “stealing” time on Thanksgiving and some tried to protest. I don’t know the actual numbers, but driving past a Walmart on the evening of Thanksgiving looked more like more people bypassed the second helping to spend money!

    The worst part of the shopping season for me is that sales ads will be more obnoxious than political ads during a presidential election year! Crazy ads where companies are trying to unload their summer and fall leftovers masquerading as the greatest deal on earth. Operation: Make room for spring things is in full affect!

    The question here is this: Do we really believe that we, as the consumers, are getting the best deals on these days? If we didn’t shop on “black friday” or decided to spend our dollars throughout the year instead of during the Christmas season, what would the day be called?

    For years, retailers have over-charged us to make their money. That was fine until they got greedy. Items get marked up five to 10 times the cost to make them. What then actually happens is that retail shops sell off the year-end items (leftovers) as Christmas gifts. So if an item was marked up four times its wholesale price, the retailer will sell it for mark up during the products peak season. Then the item may drop to half off. A profit is still made on that item and it looks like we’ve gotten a great deal.

    This retail information is not new. We all understand this, but we keep buying. I would like to think that we’re emphasizing the fellowship and togetherness as best friends, dads and sons, daughters and moms hanging out for a day of shopping, eating and laughing. It’s just too bad we have to spend money or need a holiday of sorts to get us to spend quality time. And many folks spend more than they have to impress, say sorry or over love the people in their lives. Some children are overindulged and others have nothing. It’s the time of year for haves, not have nots, but you will see everyone showing the money!

    Life is too short. Make quality time a priority this season. Let those you love know how you feel…before your life gets interrupted permanently.