Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 7

An Older Brother’s Gift

By Ada Foy

It was the Christmas season of 1994.  Nine-year-old Jaron and his six-year-old brother, Parker, were excited.  They had entered a reading contest sponsored by a grocery store in their hometown.  The two students who read the most books would each win a brand-new bicycle.  All they had to do was have their parents and teachers sign for each book they read.  Two bikes were to be awarded, one for the first-to-third grade levels, and one for the fourth-to-sixth grade levels.

Parker was especially excited because this was a way for him to earn a bike.  He really wanted one.  He was tired of watching his older brother ride around on the new purple ten-speed bike he had earned by working at a yard sale.  Parker thought that it would be great to earn a bike of his own by reading books.  So he started to read books as fast as he could.  He read Curious George, Green Eggs and Ham, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  But no matter how many books he read, someone in his grade level had read more.

Meanwhile, Jaron had not been all that enthusiastic about the contest.  When he went to the grocery store and checked the big chart with all the readers listed and how many books each had read, however, he could see that his younger brother had little chance of winning the contest.

 

Click link for rest of story: An Older Brother’s Gift

Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 6

A Christmas Adventure

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she jeered. “Even dummies know that!”

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her “world-famous” cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so.

It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. “No Santa Claus?” She snorted….”Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”

“Go? Go where, Grandma?” I asked. I hadn’t even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.

Click link for rest of story: A Christmas Adventure

Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 5

Waiting…..Waiting for Christmas

by Elizabeth English

Herman and I finally locked our store and dragged ourselves home.  It was 11 p.m. Christmas Eve.  We’d sold almost all of our toys; and all of the layaway, except one package, had been picked up.  But the person who had put a dollar down on that package never appeared.

Early Christmas morning our 12 year old son, Tom, Herman and I were out under the tree opening up gifts.  But there was something humdrum about this Christmas.  Tom was grown up, and I missed his childish exuberance of past years.  As soon as breakfast was over, he left to visit friends and Herman disappeared into the bedroom, mumbling, “I’m going back to sleep.”

So there I was alone.  It was nearly 9 a.m.  Sleet mixed with snow cut the air outside.  “Sure glad I don’t have to go out on a day like today,” I thought to myself.  And then it began—something I’d never experienced before.  A strange, persistent urge.  “Go to the store,” it seemed to say.

Click link for rest of story: Waiting, Waiting for Christmas

Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 4

Twas the Night Before Christmas a Long Time Ago

‘Twas the first night of Christmas a long time ago,
The hillside was peaceful, the moon was aglow.
The world couldn’t know from what happened before,
That men would remember this night evermore.

The sheep on the hillside—their days journey over,
Were dreaming sweet dreams of a field full of clover.
The shepherds were watchful while guarding their flock,
The earth was their pillow, the stars were their clock.

Click link for rest of story: Twas the Night Before Christmas a Long Time Ago

Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 3

A Boy Learns a Lesson

by Thomas S. Monson

In about my tenth year, as Christmas approached, I longed for an electric train.  The times were those of economic depression, yet Mother and Dad purchased for me a lovely electric train.

Christmas morning bright and early, I thrilled when I noticed my train.  The next few hours were devoted to operating the transformer and watching the engine pull its cars forward—then backward around the track.

Mother said that she had purchased a wind-up train for Widow Hansen’s boy, Mark, who lived down the lane at Gale Street.  As I looked at his train, I noted a tanker car which I much admired.  I put up such a fuss that my mother succumbed to my pleadings and gave me the tanker car.  I put it with my train set and felt pleased.

Click link for rest of story: A Boy Learns a Lesson

Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 2

The Man Who Missed Christmas

by J. Edgar Park

It was Christmas Eve; and, as usual, George Mason was the last to leave the office.  He walked over to a massive safe, spun the dials, swung the heavy door open.  Making sure the door would not close behind him, he stepped inside.

A square of white cardboard was taped just above the topmost row of strongboxes.  On the card a few words were written.  George Mason stared at those words, remembering…..

Exactly one year ago he had entered this self-same vault.  And then, behind his back, slowly, noiselessly, the ponderous door swung shut.  He was trapped—entombed in the sudden and terrifying dark.

Click link for rest of story: The Man Who Missed Christmas

Christmas Stories – 25 Days of Christmas – Dec. 1

A Brother Like That

A friend of mine named Paul received a new car from his brother as a pre-Christmas present.  On Christmas Eve, when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.

“Is this your car, mister?” he asked.

Paul nodded.  “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.”

The boy looked astounded.  “You mean your brother gave it to you, and it didn’t cost you anything?  Gosh, I wish…..”

Click link for rest of story: A Brother Like That

Differences between Mormons and Evangelicals

I came across this great article talking about the differences between Mormons and Evangelicals. I highly recommend reading it. It can be found here: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700201923/LDS-Christianity-Differences-that-matter.html.

Also – included in the article is a nice graphic showing some of the major differences. Link

ps I believe that both groups are Christians. Both believe in Jesus Christ and that He is our Savior and Redeemer. We might have differences, but we actually have a lot more in common (esp from a values standpoint) than we realize.

25 Christmas Stories for the 25 Days of Christmas

I have put together a list of some of my favorite Christmas stories in the format of the 25 Days of Christmas. You can find it here: LINK

Top Meeting Quotes 2001-2010

Top Meeting Quotes 2001-2010

  1.  No one is using it so there aren’t any complaints
  2. We will try anything easy that doesn’t work before we try anything hard that does work.
  3. We need two smart people working this… so far we have one
  4. In the worst case scenario, you end up in a Mad Max world where all you need is a pointy stick and a water filter.
  5. We’re paralyzed so the process is working.
  6. Risks have a tendency to get together and talk to each other.
  7. Directors are like icebergs, you know they’re moving you just can’t tell.
  8. When you look around the table and can’t find the sucker… the sucker is you.
  9. Dismay seemed optimistic.
  10. The numbers haven’t changed but everyone’s opinion of them has.
  11. We have to do what the boss says without negatively impacting the business.
  12. I don’t want to represent this alternate as particularly well thought out.
  13. Don’t do something stupid to meet the target, but not making the target would be stupid.
  14. How much time should we spend evaluating non-viable options?
  15. How could such a bad plan go so horribly wrong?
  16. Whenever the cowboy starts bucking before the horse, the outcome’s never good
  17. If work were fun we’d still be plowing fields with sticks
  18. OK, well I’m off to where the carpets are thick and the minds are thin.
  19. I may have inadvertently knocked the candle over but someone else spilled gasoline all over the floor
  20. He cannot come in here like a hippie on a bicycle and make up new requirements.
  21. Dave has his quirks – being impressed by upper management isn’t one of them
  22. When I say “we” I mean Kevin.
  23. We should rename this process “how to make a customer wait”.
  24. We follow the Serengeti principle- if it limps we kill it.
  25. The longer I’ve been away from that job the better I did at it.
  26. I heard some people not clapping.
  27. We are carrot people, not stick people
  28. Climb into the pinball machine with me
  29. Everyone else is bringing their finance director so you need to lawyer-up too.
  30. We are forecasting ahead of our intelligence.
  31. I invited you to this meeting for the same reason you take friends with you when you see a scary movie.
  32. I actually have less data than I showed you.
  33. Meddling with the accounting is not a mitigation plan.
  34. If you want to be positive, you could say “not all of our customers are being let down.”
  35. We call that work around a blatant violation of the process.
  36. Since I’m an old manufacturing guy, will you tell me when I’m supposed to be offended?
  37. Grass is always greener over the septic field.
  38. We want to find early adopters not early doubters.
  39. I didn’t think this imperative meant that we were actually going to do anything.”
  40. We are technically correct but we are going to have to have a very painful conversation with the boss for no apparent reason.
  41. We have skeletons in our closet but our closet is inside of a bigger closet.
  42. The more important the job is the more interruptions occur asking about the job.
  43. Let’s put on our pilot hats on and not worry about the details.
  44. You’re obviously attaching way too much importance to what I’m saying.
  45. We can use the time tested process of using 33 seconds to develop the data and 5 weeks to review and debate the numbers.
  46. I don’t have time to ignore that note from Q.  I’ll delegate it to you to ignore.
  47. Our risk is mitigated because he doesn’t have any people to produce the information that we don’t have any people to review.
  48. You have the wrong audience if you want to know what workers do.  We don’t do anything but sit in these meetings.
  49. The initial feedback is “everything’s crap”.
  50. We have people and engineers at our table.

Source: Peter Weertman, Boeing, Oct. 2011