CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON -- The Moral of the Story

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward

men.”

-- Luke 2:14

I recently spoke to a delightful group of women. The title of my talk

was “The Gifts of Christmas,” and I shared about different gifts that

nobody will want to return. The first gift I spoke about was the gift of

fun times together.

When I think back to past holidays, I remember special times with

family and friends. I’ve had a delightful little book for 30 years called

“Christmas is Together-time,” written by Charles Schulz. The cover shows

Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang with great big smiles. Even the

snowman in the background is smiling, and I can’t help but smile every

time I look at it.

I love the title because Christmas is together time. It’s a time to

focus on and enjoy our relationships with God and with others.

But to have time for others, I need to apply a principle I heard about

years ago. The speaker said that if we all learned to live by the “IDM”

principle, we would enjoy life more. I looked around the room and could

tell that we were all trying to figure out what he meant.

The speaker referred to the “IDM” principle a few more times until he

knew we couldn’t stand it anymore.

“The ‘IDM’ principle is the ability to say, ‘It don’t matter,”’ he

explained. Then he had us repeat it.

He said we need to be content with some things just being good enough,

not perfect. Saying “it don’t matter” to less essential things gives more

time for what matters most. It may not be perfect grammar, but the

message is applicable and the saying is memorable.

“Christmas came much quicker this year,” a friend said. “I still don’t

know what to buy.”

I told her about the gift of fun and the “IDM” principle.

“I don’t know what I’m afraid of. It’s not like the Christmas police

are going to barge in and haul me away for something I haven’t done,” she

said.

I told her about some friends who are going on a short-term mission

trip to India in January. They suggested that instead of exchanging

gifts, we donate to the fund they’re collecting to help with the needs of

those where they will be ministering.

“I like that idea, but I also do want to give something,” she said.

We talked about gifts that encourage togetherness such as games,

puzzles or tickets to events. I told her about the fun I had over

Thanksgiving with 17 family members, including eight grandchildren whose

ages range from 10 months to 21 years.

My nephew John had the great idea of having our own family Olympics.

We drew names for partners, and then we “competed” in foosball, bumper

pool, boccie ball and a fun card games.

Each team came up with a name and hat. My nephew David and I were the

Cheerios team and wore Cheerio boxes on our head. Everybody, except the

baby, played.

I’ll never forget the fun. The pictures are priceless.

Let’s give glory to God, and time to enjoy one another. After all,

like Schulz said, Christmas is together time.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at o7

cindy@onthegrow.comf7 or through the mail at P.O. Box 6140-No. 505,

Newport Beach, CA 92658.