Ladies!

Get ready, get set and go for a great 2009 with the Joy of Goals workshop!  I attended two years ago and got so much out of it.  You can, too!

Joy of Goals is a system designed to help you Celebrate, Dream, Design, Connect and Visualize your goals. The system is presented in a workshop format and is available to individuals, small business owners and large corporations to help their employees set and achieve their goals. 

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be…light! 

Kari Joys of Journey to Light-Heartedness has Seven Tips for Managing Holiday Stress:

Holidays can be very stressful! There are so many things to get done, so much pressure and so many expectations. Often we forget to take care of ourselves in the process and that’s when the stress becomes overwhelming.
Here are some tips to keep you emotionally balanced during the holidays:
1. Breathe deeply throughout the day. Breathing helps you stay in the moment and release any stress that’s accumulated.
2. Stay in touch with what you are feeling and cry when you need to cry. Remember that no one is to blame for your feelings; crying just helps you release anything that is painful.
3. Use positive self-talk to counteract anxiety and stress, for example, you could say, “This doesn’t have to be perfect — it’s the love that matters!”
4. Ask a friend to share a listening half hour with you. One of you listens while the other talks for 15 minutes each; and the listener says only “Thank-you for sharing.” By doing this, you will both feel more loved and supported. (Remember not to give unasked-for advice.)
5. Take time to go for a walk in nature. While you’re walking, say positive affirmations to yourself or focus on what you are thankful for in your life.
6. Make a list of what needs to be done and cross things off your list when they’re completed. Congratulate yourself for everything that gets done, even if it doesn’t go the way you planned!
7. Keep your sense of humor. When things don’t work out perfectly, look at the funny side of it all! Ask yourself, in ten years when you look back, what will you be laughing about?

Still searching for the right format for daily prayer?  Try this wonderful process designed by Jesuit priests in Ireland.  You can pray at your computer, and be connected to the daily readings Christians around the world are praying.

TV specials were a big part of Christmas as I grew up.  They were on only once a year, so I waited for each with great anticipation.  Wikia has put together a guide to the 2008 Christmas specials.  When I was a kid, I only had 3 stations to keep track of; now with hundreds of cable channels, Wikia has done an impressive job keeping track of the favorites and the new ones, too.

http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/2008_Christmas_Specials_TV_Schedule

Maria Rodgers O’Rourke, author of Prepare Your Heart for a Great Christmas, will sign copies of her book Sunday, December 14th at Borders, Sunset Hills, from 1-3 p.m. Stop by and say hello and get some shopping done!  With reflections that take us into the New Year, the book is a wonderful gift for someone you love or yourself.

Borders Sunset Hills is located on Watson Road between Lindbergh and Highway 270.  See you there!

Amy Grant loves Christmas.  She’s recorded three holiday CD’s in her career and this year has released a new collection, compiling four new tracks and her favorite songs from her previous CD’s. 

Many artists who achieve her stature as a grammy-winning and multi-platinum selling performer are obliged to add their takes to the traditional favorites to the holiday music lexicon.  Often while listening to Christmas music on the radio, I wonder if the singer really has a heart for the material.  It’s clear Amy does.

What sets Amy apart is that she really means it when she invites us to have a merry little Christmas.  Whether joyful or solemn, Amy’s beautiful pop voice strikes the right tone.  Her heart is in all these songs.  Clearly, her faith and family traditions hold profound meaning for her this time of year.  When we join her in the music, we’re uplifted with the spirit of the season as well.

The new tracks on her current Christmas CD continue her heartfelt holiday spirit.  Of the four contributions, my favorite is I Need a Silent Night.  It gives voice to the unspoken wish of all frazzled moms this time of year:

I need a silent night, a Holy night to hear an angel voice

Through the chaos and the noise I need a midnight clear

A little peace right here to end this crazy day with a silent night

The song features Amy’s daughter Corrina reading the Luke account of the birth of Jesus.  Her sweet voice harkens to the angel Amy wants to hear during her silent night.  Like Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas, she reminds us of the reason for the season. Perhaps Corrina also reminds us to be attentive to all the angels in our lives, and not get so caught up in the bustle that we brush past them and miss tender moments. 

Amy’s other new tracks include her covers of Jingle Bells, the arrangement made famous by Barbra Streisand, and Count Your Blessings, a tender song from the classic movie White Christmas.  Amy and husband Vince Gill composed Baby, It’s Christmas, a soft jazz, slightly sexy ode to the one you’ve been meeting under the mistletoe. 

Our family has grown up with Amy through her Christmas recordings, and the new collection spans the decades from Tennessee Christmas to Breath of Heaven and A Christmas to Remember.  With her new collection, Amy invites us celebrate the season with her, right where we are.  She’s real, she’s hopeful; her heart is in all her work.  We know Christmas has arrived when Amy’s voice fills our home.

Having trouble getting it together for the holidays? 

Sign up for your 7-Step Action Plan for a Great Christmas now!  Scroll down the left side of this page to have it delivered to you electronically.

The plan was created by Julie Hood, the “Information Organizer,” who works with people who want to use technology and the Internet to save time and get the right things done.

She has to be incredibly organized at the holidays since, in addition to Christmas-ing with her husband and two children, she celebrates her mom’s birthday, her mother-in-law’s birthday, her Grandma’s birthday, and Christmas—all within five days! She is author of the best-selling ebook, “The Organized Writer: 30 Days to More Time, More Money and Less Frustration,” Fortune 500 consultant, a former CPA and an office supply addict.

The organizing division of Finally Organized LLC includes a suite of web sites to help people get organized including FinallyOrganized.com, JoyofGoals.com, OrganizeYourBusiness.com, and OrganizedWriter.com.

Dear Readers:

Join me these Advent and Christmas seasons for daily conversations to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  Richard Bach said we teach that which we most need to learn, so part of the reason I wrote this book is because I need it, too!  I’ll be praying and reflecting with the book and posting my gratitude lists and new reflections on this blog.

Please join us and be assured that you don’t pray alone!

It’s exciting to see this beautiful little book reaching so many people this year!  Busy moms around the country will use it to help them stay in the Christmas spirit.  Take a look at who’s talking about it:

Susan M. Heim is an author and editor, specializing in parenting, multiples, and women’s issues. She is a former Senior Editor for a major publishing company, where she specialized in the bestselling “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, as well as religion and teen books. Susan is the author of the books, “Oh, Baby! 7 Ways a Baby Will Change Your Life the First Year”; “Twice the Love: Stories of Inspiration for Families with Twins, Multiples and Singletons”; “It’s Twins! Parent-to-Parent Advice from Infancy Through Adolescence”; “Boosting Your Baby’s Brain Power”; and, “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Twins and More.”

Author and speaker Trish Berg reminds moms to keep it simple and keep it biblical. In the midst of sleep deprivation and Cheerio dust, she wants moms to embrace the wonder and privilege of being a mom.  Trish has been featured on ABC World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, Focus on the Family, Moody’s Midday Connection; 100 Huntley Street, That’s Life with Robin Swoboda and The Harvest Show.

My thanks to Susan and Trish for featuring the book on their blogs.  Please visit their sites for more inspiration!

What else would you expect?  Oprah has great holiday stress-busters online.  Tip #1:  Get Enough Sleep.  I knew I liked that lady!