 WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE ('Tis the season of giving and sharing!) With Christmas fast approaching, I’m sending out my newsletter early. This month, I thought it’d be fun to chat about White Elephant Gift parties. I'm sure you’ve attended one or two in your life. If not, please accept the next invitation. They’re an experience you don’t want to miss. Here’s our White Elephant Gift Exchange story: When we lived in Colorado, Ray and I belonged to a Bible study. The couple who led the study invited us to our first White Elephant party. A few days before going to it, I looked around our house to find something out of the ordinary to take to the festivities. I found nothing. Even back in the day, before we began our RVing adventure, hubby and I didn’t keep unnecessary things around the house. In the end, we rummaged through our bookshelf and put two books we’d read into a gift bag and headed out. We arrived, and as the saying goes, “Let the party begin.” There was food to feed an army, children running around with the new friends they’d made, and a table full of brightly-colored packages and bags waiting to be opened. And the time arrived for gift giving… Our host had us sit down and said, “When the first person’s name is called, they will choose a present and open it. Then Player #2 can either steal Player #1’s gift or take a new gift off the table. Players #3, #4, and so on do the same. The game ends when all the gifts are opened. The game began, and soon my name was called. I chose my gift and opened it. Inside, I found a round purse with a working clock on the outside of it. Throughout the rest of the evening, I hoped someone would take the novelty item off my hands, but no one wanted it… Except for one little boy. After the gifts were opened, he came up to me and asked, “Can I trade my present for yours?” And with tears in his eyes, he finished with, “I want to give it to my mommy.” How could I resist? I gave it to him, and he promptly ran over and gave it to his mom. I knew she didn’t want it any more than I did, but I’ll bet that was a gift she cherished (and maybe used it a time or two) because of who gave it to her. What about you? Have you attended a White Elephant Party? Please tell me about it. You know I love your stories.  I (we) love to watch Hallmark Christmas movies. The other night, we watched Christmas at Midnight Clear. What a cute movie. In the middle of the show, I heard one of the characters say something inspiring. Instead of writing it down, I thought I’d remember what they said. I didn’t. Then a crazy idea hit me. I got on Google and said, “Christmas at Midnight Clear script.” Within seconds, the lines of the story showed up. WHAT? Who knew! If you’re wondering, the line is: “Prayer isn’t just about getting what we want, it’s also about finding the strength for what we get. We call that divine intervention.” December Funny: A few days ago, I was on Facebook. I turned to Ray and said, “I saw on this reel that you can make four different flavors of Dump Cake.” His response, without skipping a beat, was, “Who would want flavored Duct Tape?” You guessed it. I laugh hysterically and literally couldn’t correct him for a minute or two. When I contained myself, I told him why. He laughed along with me. You gotta love a spouse who is hard of hearing. As I told you in last month’s newsletter, he is a funny guy!  WRITING NEWS: I have joined Celebrate Lit and several other authors to bring you the Merry Christmas Readers Giveaway (Dec. 15-Dec. 23). You have a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card and over 45 books. My book, An Unexpected Christmas Gift, is featured. Don't miss your chance to enter! Just click the link below! https://www.celebratelit.com/posts/merry-christmas-readers-giveaway/  And for more holiday cheer, Rekindled for Christmas Eve is ON SALE too—for $0.99.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Until next year… P.S. I'll leave you with a bit more humor. The photo below is of us at a December dance. We were to dress up as rockers. Hubby hit the mark with the outfit and wig. I slicked back my hair and looked more like I was going to work. HA!  Janetta Fudge Messmer - Author of Christian Comedy/Romances “Turning Life Into Comedy!” E-mail: janettafudgemessmer@gmail.com Website and sign up for the newsletter: http://janettafudgemessmer.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janetta.fudge.messmer Twitter: https://twitter.com/nettiefudge |
