Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Treats for the Christmas spirit

Christmas time is a time when insane amounts of treats are passed out and consumed. It's a fact that the time between Thanksgiving and New Years is when people pack on the pounds. Here are just a few random thoughts about treats this time of year.


Interesting treats: If this offends anyone, I'm sorry, but I've seen these decorative bags of mixed cereals, pretzels, and popcorn, on the break table at work. I started putting two and two together. We store our cereal boxes on top of the fridge and generally, there is that last little ¼ cup of cereal left in the bottom of the box that sits there for months. If you have enough of these mostly empty boxes lying around, what a neat idea—dump them all into a decorative bag, throw in a handful of pretzels and a handful of popcorn and voilรก, instant treats for the neighbors or the mail carrier! I actually don't know what makes this appealing at all, but it's good for the thrifty.


Best treats: My list of best treats include nearly anything that's homemade, and that doesn't include raisins or walnuts. Raisins are not a hot item at Christmas time anyway, but walnuts manage to make their way into some of the best foods, like fudge. That being said, if I had to make a list of things I like best as far as Christmas treats goes, here's what would be on the list: fudge, sugar cookies, various kinds of candy (the good non-peppermint kind), and anything put together with love.


Worst treats: There are none. If anyone takes the time to do something for you, you should appreciate it. Even if it's a bag of leftover cereals mixed up, whoever gave it to you thought you might like it. Actually, I might like it if the pretzels and popcorn were left out, because then I could actually dump it in a bowl with some milk and have a great potpouri of cereals. That's why I never have those mostly empty boxes of cereal on my fridge or in my cupboard, btw. They get used up by me...wheat chex mixed with bran flakes, etc. Not too shabby.


Suggestions for treats that you don't normally think about: Have you ever thought of doing a service treat? How about showing up, early in the morning after a snow storm and clearing your neighbor's sidewalks? How about rolling in their trash cans from off the street for them? How about visiting them or giving them a phone call just to say “hi”?


My final thought is that everything should be accepted graciously and with gratitude. It's not the food that we get this time of year that's important, it's the love that we feel. More importantly, it's the love that we share, because Christ's love is the greatest of all and sharing our love with others is a great way to honor Him.


No comments: