"Away in a mager, no crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the skies looked down where He lay. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay."
.jpg)
http://youtu.be/TeDSZfvDH3g
The Bible tells us Jesus was born to our world in a stable with Mary and Joseph and the animals to welcome him. There is no description of silken robes or soft blankets fitting for the Savior of the world.
But there were gifts on this first Christmas as the three wise men came from afar to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to this newborn "King of the Jews". In that day, those were fitting gifts for the Son of God.
In our day, part of our Christmas is the pleasure we get from finding the right gifts for those we love and the children's gifts are often given the most careful thought and planning. B
ut do we ever conisider what is a fitting gift for those we love?
While we would never wish to give our loved ones the gift of poverty, I happened upon a commentary on the "gifts" that arise from poverty and necessity. I realized that many of us Seniors will agree because we have lived these truths.
By Rhonda Robinson
It's no secret that hard times bring out the best and worst in us. That is the simple truth behind the much-touted, saintly qualities of previous generations. My grandfather was born in 1898, my mother 30 years later. Those hard decades pressed virtues in and out of all who lived through them.
We want to give our children the very best. We want them to avoid our mistakes, our heartaches, and our trials. In short, we want them to have a life without pain. We want to believe that if we can pour in all good, we can expect all good to come out.
Unfortunately, that's not how human nature works. The problem is found in our definition of "good," which is usually some abstraction of prosperity, leisure, and fun. Hard work is painful, yet it yields the most satisfying results. This is not a new concept. It's a common truth - it's just not thought of as something we want to give to our children.
It's often difficult to watch our child struggle with an unfulfilled desire, especially if it's within our power to give it to them. But when we do, when we inundate our sons and daughters with "stuff" and fill their lives with little more than leisure and sports, we are not preparing them to live in the world of adults.
We only have a few short years to equip our children to survive. We see to their education and their health and strive for their happiness. But are we helping them develop the moral muscles necessary to face the adult world rather than giving them momentary happiness.
Before anyone replaces the pool house with an outhouse for fear of turning their child into an OWS ingrate, let me offer a few suggestions.
Find or create opportunities for earning money. 
The chance to buy a desired item will put the wish in an entirely new light. Oftentimes what a child will pine for mom or dad to buy will lose all its luster once they discover they can have it by dipping into their own pocket.
Give children the opportunity to serve with no 
expectations of gain. Churches are a good place to start, but just being aware of needs in your own neighborhood can open a lot of opportunities. Raking leaves for the neighbor, cleaning a gutter for an elderly person, or volunteering at a veteran or children's hospital.
Resist the urge to rescue your child from small failures. We learn more from our failures than our triumphs.
In spite of what the media would have us believe, the vast majority of Americans are not living in Hooverville. Nor are our children born into a class from which they can never rise. The American dream for my grandfather wasn't a "dream" at all. It was a vision. Parents who have never had a formal education have dreamed of college for their own offspring and then painted a vision in their children's minds of a future better than their own.
That is the American dream. We don't have to demand that someone else must give us our "fair" share. We have been endowed by our Creator with the ability to imagine a better life and then create it out of the dust in our garage. It is our heritage to do so.
In spite of all their poverty, the generations before us kept their dreams alive.
This Christmas season, I invite you to join me in reevaluating the gifts we give to our children and grandchildren by asking, "What will this gift create in him? Will it be a tool for future prosperity? Will it ignite his imagination?"
"Or will it caress my parental ego?"
Every generation will be pressed by hardship at one moment or another. By using a little selective deprivation while they are young we can give the next generation the gift of fortitude.
Perhaps then, we will once again see a generation eager to build their lives, rather than stand with a sign demanding one.
sets to kids through a drawing. Although we had a couple Grinch's in the leadership who did not want to help fund this club event, we were still able to pull it off. 
a great deal of time looking for stories from our heritage to inspire a new generation with a love of freedom and of America. I found buried treasure among the writings of yesteryear. The Freedom Series is twelve volumes of stories gathered from literature written for young people before 1923. These writers carefully wove into their stories all the lessons young patriots need to know to hold on to their Republic and freedom.
Ellis the Elephant who is looking in books for the the secret of America.
Here you can sign up for Glenn's free newsletter. Also you can click on "Listen Now" and hear live streaming of Glenn's radio show available at anytime. The radio show airs live weekdays from 9am to noon.
Facebook is a great place to visit our families, friends and celebrities. Even politicians and candidates have pages full of information.. 