An Open Letter to my Grandchildren at Christmas
16 December 2017
An Open Letter to my Grandchildren
at Christmas
Dear Grandchildren,
Note: For the youngest grandchildren, I hope your Mom will save this for you to read when you are older.
Most of the advertisements on the radio today are saying “thank you” to the people who did business with them during this year. In addition, the businesses are offering special deals for whatever they sell. North Pole Radio promises Christmas favorites all day long. I’m staying tuned to this station so I can hear holiday music. I like it!
As your Grandmother (or Great-Grandmother) I am writing this letter of Thanks to You and giving you some advice that may help you in your future.
4 ways to have a Holy-Jolly Christmas
With my 4 suggestions, you can have a beautiful life regardless of the challenges or disappointments you will encounter as we all do on this path of life. These 4 tips are from my heart and my life experiences over the past seventy-four years. They will give you victory throughout your life. Grandpap and I have found this to be true. You need to know 4 life-principles.
#1 Set Intentions
Set Intentions for the New Year
This is something I discovered, and found it to work very well. I’ll give you some examples from my own life.
I’m beginning to think about setting my INTENTIONS for 2018. I don’t set goals any longer but I do another activity which is even better. I am passing my own information on to you to use in your own life.
Here are 4 POINTS I have found to be good practice for the year.
First: I set my INTENTIONS for the YEAR AHEAD. This means that I write down some
items or activities I want to take place in my life next year. An INTENTION is better than a GOAL for the GOAL requires that I make a PLAN for the year and then stick to that plan so that I achieve the goals. It means it is all up to ME. Setting goals can be self-defeating for the statistics show that only a slim percentage of those who set a goal will ever achieve it. This applies for making a New Year’s Resolution as well. It is really a waste of time, but worse yet, you have set yourself up for failure and disappointment. There is a much better way and that is to SET YOUR INTENTIONS for the YEAR. What do you WANT to happen in your life? Say it out loud! God is very near to you and he hears every whisper you utter.
When I set an INTENTION, I am inviting God to take part in organizing my life and priorities. It means that I lay out my own desires and prayers, then I turn them all over to HIM and trust in HIM to answer my prayers in his own way and in his time. This is much better than relying on myself and my own efforts to get to the places I want to be in the future.
I could give you many examples of how this way of thinking and trusting God has worked miracles in my own life but when you try it for yourself in 2018, you will see how God works first hand in YOUR LIFE. I’ll be excited to hear from you one year from now to hear your own experiences in learning how to set INTENTIONS and how God does it for YOU!
#2 Choose One Word for the Year
Second, select ONE WORD for the YEAR AHEAD. Pick a word that seems right to YOU. Usually, the one word just comes immediately into your mind and you won’t spend any time thinking about it.
Here’s what happened to me the past 2 years in 2016 and 2017.
In 2016, my word for the year was EXUBERAMNT. I decided to live an EXUBERANT LIFE no matter what happened. I selected a couple of works of ART by Matisse that gave me the feeling of EXUBERANCE. I can remember things by thinking about images that I like. You may have other ways of remembering but this works for me. The paintings of MATISSE stayed in my mind all year long. The joyful and dance-like images reminded me to be EXUBERANT in everything I did that year, in all situations and challenges. It was truly an EXUBERANT year for ME because I chose that word to keep on my heart all year long.
For 2017, my ONE WORD is EXTRAORDINARY. I wanted to be EXTRAORDINARY in every area of my life; in my writing and visual art projects; in my personal interactions and relationships with others. I resolved to treat others as I wanted to be treated myself. I chose to see each person as a child of our Living God and treat each according to that viewpoint.
My year of living an EXUBERANT LIFE led me to a DESIRE; I wanted to be an EXTRAORDINARY person in everything I did this year. Here are some of the areas of my personal and professional life I chose to seek extraordinary results:
My Writing and Art Life:
I chose to send out my writing and visual art to a variety of venues.
Writing and fine art requires a spirit of giving and acceptance of rejection or rewards that you have no control over. Creative people learn at an early age in their development that they need to be gracious and accept rejection as well as praise – with an open heart. We practice what we chose to do and what we are called to do by our Creator. We hold the spirit of sharing with others deep in our spirits. Our chosen discipline requires us to be adventurous and to live by faith in our areas of expertise.
Throughout this year, I was so happy to read the acceptance notes from editors and art exhibition curators. I had really warm and friendly communications with a number of editors I respect so much. And, I met quite a few new editors and had my work published numerous times in a variety of literary magazines. In art, my work was recognized at international exhibitions.
In 2017, I see how my INTENTION to be EXTRAORDINARY played out. I’ve had an EXTRAORDINARY YEAR.
I am thinking right now how your next year will be when YOU decide to choose a WORD that is just for YOU!
One special surprised came when I learned I was on the list of prize winners announced by Proverse Poetry Prize Awards Anthology 2017. This is a Hong Kong based publishing company. Proverse is on my INTENTIONS list. I wanted to have my work accepted by Proverse at some point. Another EXTRAORDINARY accomplishment for 2017!
In my Writing Life, I also had an exciting INTENTION that came to pass. My book, Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems was published by DLD Books, Denver Colorado, 2017. The book is gorgeous and I am proud of it. I worked on the material for this book for over 7 years. I’ve enjoyed signing my books for people who buy it and I appreciate the good comments I have received and the smile on their faces. Can you imagine the joy in my spirit when I hand over one of my books to someone who has just purchased it? There is no greater compliment than to know this person believes in me enough to purchase my books for themselves and for gifts to others. I am blessed and it is EXTRAORDINARY!
For 2018, my ONE WORD is Intuition.
When we read God’s word daily, in the Bible, he guides us through our God-given place inside of us. Our intuition gives us warnings to let us know if something is not right or good for us. We have to learn to trust God’s Word to guide us every day. This happens through our INTUITION. Our mind is not the place where God dwells, it is in our intuition, our inner being. We have INNER FEELINGS that guide us in the right paths.
#3 Good Money Management
This is one of the most important things you can learn to do for yourself now and in the years to come. Just as you asked God to help you in other ways, he will help you with your finances, too! It’s so simple to learn how to manage your money with God’s help. Even if you are just making a few dollars doing some odd jobs, or just getting a few dollars for your birthday, this is something you can learn to do and see it at work. You can begin with just a DOLLAR.
When you learn how to honor God with your DOLLAR, you will know how to manage larger amounts as you grow to be an adult.
This is called the “80 – 20” way of managing your money. God will be your partner in this way of managing your money. Watch and SEE how this works in your own life. You will be so amazed a year from now if you do this from the beginning of the year.
Let’s say you have only one DOLLAR.
First:
You will SAVE 10 percent of your dollar.
Put 10 cents in a bank savings account that you will NEVER TOUCH for any reason.
Second:
You WILL GIVE AWAY 10 percent of your DOLLAR to a church or charity. This is a TITHE and you can choose where you want to GIVE. You will GIVE 10 cents from your DOLLAR.
Third: You WILL have 80 percent of your DOLLAR for yourself. Spend it wisely. Never spend any of your 80 cents without thinking seriously about it. Be sure you are making a good choice about what you purchase. This plan means that
you have 80 cents to spend, out of your DOLLAR. Be wise and not foolish about your money. Keep in mind that God is your financial partner. How would he ant you to spend your 80 cents?
#4 Invite Jesus to be Your Partner in Life
I have saved my best piece of advice for the last.
Like all of my other suggestions, this one is so simple to do.
Take a moment to close your eyes, and bow your head and say,
“Dear Jesus, as I begin to celebrate your birthday at Christmas, I want to ask you to come into my heart and be Lord of my Life. I know I have made mistakes and choices that are not good for me and I want to say I am sorry for those. Beginning today, I ask you to help me every day and in every situation. Guide my life in the direction you have planned for me from the beginning of time. I want to live with you and walk with you every day from now until I see you in person again. Thank you for the precious life you have planned for me.”
With all my love, your Grandmother,
Lynda McKinney Lambert
Saturday, 16 December 2017
__________
This essay is the property of Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright, December 19, 2017.
Lynda in her Meditation Garden, Wurtemburg, PA
Lynda McKinney Lambert lives in the rural Village of Wurtemburg in western Pennsylvania. She writes poetry and creative non-fiction essays. She retired from teaching as professor of fine arts and humanities at Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, USA.
Lambert’s first book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, was published by Kota Press.
Her second book is Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems, published in 2017 by DLD Books, Denver, Colorado.
Lynda’s 3rd book, Star Signs, is currently in development for publication in 2018.
Her work appears in Spirit Fire Review; Indiana Voice Journal; Magnets & Ladders; Stylist; Breath & Shadow; Wordgathering; The Avocet; Proverse Hong Kong Poetry Prize Anthology 2017; Naturewriting; Plum Tree Tavern; Behind our Eyes: A Second Look – Anthology; and other literary journals and anthologies.
She is also an actively exhibiting fiber artist.
Major themes in her creative works are Christian faith and history; Nature; Mythology; Art and Literary History.
Lynda McKinney lost most of her sight in 2007 due to Ischemic Optic Neuropathy. She creates her art work and writing projects via the use of technologies for the blind.
Visit her Blog: www.lyndalambert.com
View her Author’s Page: www.dldbooks.com/lyndalambert
Contact her: llambert@zoominternet.net
Our truest life is when we are in our dreams – awake.” Henry David Thoreau
Announcing: my new book
Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems
Available NOW!
Walking by Inner Vision
Stories & Poems
by Lynda McKinney Lambert
DLD Books – 2017
Photo by Heidi Murrin for The Tribune Review, Taken at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, January 2014: BEST OF SHOW in the Ellwood City Juried Arts Festival in 2015; First Place at the InSights 17 exhibition in Louisville,KY in October 2017.
Lynda McKinney Lambert, Author
104 River Road
Ellwood City, PA 16117e-mail: riverwoman@zoominternet.net
Site updated: December 17, 2017