Posted on by Kristina Knowles

Merry Materialism and…

Happy New Debt!

I have one child who was spoiled because he was the 1st grandchild for awhile. If I could go back and change anything, I would never spoil a child or another human being with too many things. Things can be nice, amazing, fun, pretty and mind blowing.

Unfortunately, things ultimately end up being just things. Things become boring, collect dust, break and become old or outdated. We have been silently seduced to believe the more things the better, the one with the most things wins and the “you only live once” consumption mentality.

As the holidays are fast approaching, please remember the true meaning of Christmas and what it represents. When Advent begins it takes my breath away to light each candle, each night. It is a pleasant and powerful reminder of the birth of Jesus Christ.

I believe our best is given when we can share a testimony to each other to make their lives better. I over compensated with gifts and presents to make my Sons life good, happy and perfect. I was so wrong and I will never do it again.

In order to make my mistake known and praying Griffin won’t make the same mistakes. I recently called him to apologize for all my past mistakes but especially for the time we spent focused on the wrong things about life. Please don’t misunderstand me, we spent good quality time together and still have a wonderful relationship.

However, I would love nothing more than for anyone who reads this to understand that spoiling people only guarantees one thing, you will spoil the true meaning of Christmas and ultimately life. Living within your means, not overspending, avoiding debt and being more concerned with quality of life and not quantity should be the ultimate goal.

The plan was Jesus. The time was Christmas. The reason was His love.

God bless you and yours, Kristina!

 

Posted on by Kristina Knowles

We must look out…

For others every day.

On my birthday, November 24th, my wonderful thoughtful boyfriend took me to Enchanted. It is a beautiful and magical display of lights in Arlington, Texas. When you drive up, you instantly get excited. I couldn’t wait to park and run up to the entrance. I was so surprised, grateful and excited.

Something happened as we were pulling into the parking space we were waiting for. Another car pulled into it while we were backing in. I couldn’t believe it, I had to pick my jaw off the floor of the car. Chris is so easy going but even he was shocked. Now kids, don’t do this at home, I got out of the car and approached the driver.

I did NOT yell, scream, cuss or fight with the driver and his passengers. Instead, I asked them why did they pull into a space that we were clearly backing into? The driver confessed he didn’t see us and that he thought we were waiting for another spot. Ok, I wished them a Merry Christmas and walked across the street to the special surprise birthday date night.

I had to shake off the discomfort of the lack of care or concern from that experience in the parking lot. I had to move on, so I did. I instantly started to feel the excitement and joy I had originally felt when we started to pull up. It was a winter wonderland, so precious and beautiful at the same time. So many couples, families and children. It was like a scene out of a Norman Rockwell drawing.

Lights, snow, music, ice skating, shopping, food and lots of smiling faces. Then as I watched the crowd I noticed a lot of families not able to get group shots together. So I stepped in and asked if I could help take pictures for them, it was awesome.

Then I noticed something else, an older woman walking down the steps using the hand rail. A group of people had not noticed her and didn’t get out of her way. I walked back to her, took her outside arm to help her down the steps. I wondered how she might have felt having this strange woman take her arm and help her down the steps. I didn’t think about it because I didn’t want her to fall and hurt herself. She was grateful, asked me my name and where was I from…Kristina with a K from Maryland. We both laughed.

We must look out for each other, every day. I could have let the parking lot experience ruin my birthday surprise or wanting to help anyone that night. I could have been a jerk and held a dumb grudge but that is not who God created me or any of us to be. God created us out of LOVE and not evil. Give power to the peace, joy and love that lives inside you.

My works is not my salvation, it’s my faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for all of us. However, my faith enables me to enjoy and find total delight in my works to help others naturally.

God bless you.