Published: December 13, 2007 12:14 pm            

Land Minds: Give the gifts from within

Originally published in the Dec. 14, 2007, print edition.

Merry Christmas.

This is a wonderful time of year, and it’s a time when giving is stressed and encouraged.

This issue, our annual Holiday Issue, offers many examples of the holiday spirit.

Click here to read about the annual project by Steele County 4-H’ers. Each year 4-H’ers combine their talents to help other youth bring a little joy to their families.

Feel like you have too much, and wish to do something about it? Enduring Hope is an organization looking for farmers’ used machinery or even scrap metal, that they will in turn take the proceeds and turn it in to help for needy African children. You can read that story by clicking here.

Small communities rely on its people to make things tick. It’s really amazing what the combined efforts of these people can result in. Just one such example can be found by clicking here, as the Prairie Players, of Long Prairie, presented their second annual Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

The theater group looks at the performance as their gift to the rest of the community.

There are still a few shopping days left. Got that hard-to-buy-for someone on your list? If you still can’t find that special gift, then look within.

Over the years my wife and I have attempted to go with thoughtful, heartfelt, home-made gifts.

One year for our nieces, we sent them on a scavenger hunt.

The first gift, wrapped and under the tree, was a mug. Inside the mug was a clue that lead them to another room, where there were packets of hot cocoa mix, and another clue. This clue lead them to another room where a bag of mini marshmallows was wrapped. Of course the fluffies had another clue, which lead them to the final gifts of two sleds.

It wasn’t too expensive, and it gave them a thrill of the hunt and days of fun and warmth thereafter.

One time for a gift for my mother, my wife had created a stuffed white “wreath.” On the wreath, our nieces and oldest daughter put their green-painted handprints, along with red fingerprints for holly berries.

Once again, not a big cash outlay, but many lasting memories.

Holidays are time to create memories, but they’re also a good time to relive old memories.

Compiling scrapbooks or computer slideshows of old family photos will warm even the coldest of hearts.

As they always say, “it’s the thought that counts.” That’s very true. A thoughtful, heartfelt gift will hopefully stir thoughts within the recipient.

Those heart-warming exchanges are what the holidays are all about. So when you’re stuck looking for the perfect gift, look deep within; the gift has been there all along.

Merry Christmas.

        

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