Rudolph!!

Monday, December 9, 2019

Welcome to my Monday Blog, my friends!!

*” “As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob May wasn’t feeling much comfort or joy. A 34-year-old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, May was exhausted and nearly broke. His wife, Evelyn, was bedridden, on the losing end of a two-year battle with cancer. This left Bob to look after their four-year old-daughter, Barbara.

One night, Barbara asked her father, “Why isn’t my mommy like everybody else’s mommy?” As he struggled to answer his daughter’s question, Bob remembered the pain of his own childhood. A small, sickly boy, he was constantly picked on and called names. But he wanted to give his daughter hope, and show her that being different was nothing to be ashamed of. More than that, he wanted her to know that he loved her and would always take care of her. So he began to spin a tale about a reindeer with a bright red nose who found a special place on Santa’s team. Barbara loved the story so much that she made her father tell it every night before bedtime. As he did, it grew more elaborate. Because he couldn’t afford to buy his daughter a gift for Christmas, Bob decided to turn the story into a homemade picture book.

In early December, Bob’s wife died. Though he was heartbroken, he kept working on the book for his daughter. A few days before Christmas, he reluctantly attended a company party at Montgomery Ward. His co-workers encouraged him to share the story he’d written. After he read it, there was a standing ovation. Everyone wanted copies of their own. Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the book from their debt-ridden employee. Over the next six years, at Christmas, they gave away six million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to shoppers. Every major publishing house in the country was making offers to obtain the book. In an incredible display of good will, the head of the department store returned all rights to Bob May. Four years later, Rudolph had made him into a millionaire.

Now remarried with a growing family, May felt blessed by his good fortune. But there was more to come. His brother-in-law, a successful songwriter named Johnny Marks, set the uplifting story to music. The song was pitched to artists from Bing Crosby on down. They all passed. Finally, Marks As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob May wasn’t feeling much comfort or joy. A 34-year-old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, May was exhausted and nearly broke. His wife, Evelyn, was bedridden, on the losing end of a two-year battle with cancer. This left Bob to look after their four-year old-daughter, Barbara.

Within a few years, it had become the second best-selling Christmas song ever, right behind “White Christmas”. Since then, Rudolph has come to life in TV specials, cartoons, movies, toys, games, coloring books, greeting cards and even a Ringling Bros. circus act. The little red-nosed reindeer dreamed up by Bob May and immortalized in song by Johnny Marks has come to symbolize Christmas as much as Santa Claus, evergreen trees and presents. As the last line of the song says, “He’ll go down in history.”

Johnny Marks approached Gene Autry. The cowboy star had scored a holiday hit with “Here Comes Santa Claus” a few years before. Like the others, Autry wasn’t impressed with the song about the misfit reindeer. Marks begged him to give it a second listen. Autry played it for his wife, Ina. She was so touched by the line “They wouldn’t let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games” that she insisted her husband record the tune.

WOW!! What a wonderful and inspiring story about our beloved Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer! I hope you all enjoy this tidbit of our history and maybe even share it with others!

This week, my prayer for us all, is that while we certainly can enjoy uplifting and fun and Christmas stories like Rudolph, more importantly as Christians though, we will feel the tender tug on our heart strings as we embrace the true meaning of Christmas…the blessed birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!!

GOD is Good! GOD is Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

My novel, the spiritual thriller, “That Melvin Bray”, is available on Amazon

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The Blues

Monday, December 10, 2018

Welcome to my Monday Blog, dear hearts! Thank you for your time and I always welcome your comments. I appreciate all of you and hope you know how important you are to me!

Have you ever had one of those days when you felt un-well and just too weary to go out or interact with the outside world – you know, a touch of The Blues? Truth is, we’ve all had those days, from time to time…we’re not robots, are we? The important thing for us to acknowledge and consider is how we deal with the blue days when they stop by for a misery visit. The how we deal with the situation usually determines how long the visit will last.

Our Gift of Life comes to us in many forms and “The Blues” is just part of it. Many times God is placing us precisely where we need to be and in certain situations, that very place will be joined by challenges – some great, some small. It’s how we deal with the potential crisis that is so important because this is when God is teaching us to trust in Him. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve wiggled and wobbled around a situation only to come to the conclusion that once again, I thought I knew best…even though in my heart-of-hearts, I had my doubts. In His mighty wisdom though, God just sat back and allowed my will to move forward. Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that in each instance I would end up with a bad case of The Blues and hide out for a few days until I came to my spiritual senses. Thank God He knows what we’re both doing!

When all’s well and we least expect it, something comes out of the “blue” and we’ll end up with a case of The Blues if we don’t handle it properly. Being human is basically our biggest problem – we think we know best –  Not always the case, is it?

So, how do we stay well and keep The Blues at bay?  Funny you should ask…

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”    – Proverbs 3:6

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” – Romans 15:13

WOW!! All we have to do is…BELIEVE IN HIM –  a sure-fire way to keep The Blues away!

This week, my prayer for us all is that we will put our faith and trust in Him. Words can come too easy; however, God wants actions to match our  words of testament and promise. Let’s pray for each other that we will keep our promises to Him and in doing so, we may be worthy of our Gift of Life He has bestowed upon us. Amen.

GOD is Good! GOD is Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

My spiritual thriller, “That Melvin Bray” is available on Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giving & Taking

December 3, 2018

Welcome to my Monday blog, dear ones! Thank you for your time, support and comments. I love you and appreciate you today and always.

Thanksgiving has come and gone now and hopefully we were all reminded of just how thankful we are for all that we have. As for me, I was reminded of the good ole’ bad days when times were not so plentiful. Many times while growing up, Thanksgivings would have been rather bleak at my house had it not been for the kindness of good friends and neighbors. We were poor and we knew it. We were grateful for our blessings and learned early on in life that “it could be worse”…my darling Mother would remind us of this fact every once in a while…”children, we must be grateful for what we do have and remember that there are those who have even less.” 

Thanksgiving has become my second favorite holiday (Christmas is first for obvious reasons), because Thanksgiving is the day which touches my heart in a way that causes me to want to be a giver and not just a taker. In my book, giving and taking go hand and hand and if you’re going to take, you must give back…in some way. Period.

We don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving each year to show our kindness by giving something to those who are less fortunate. Kindness is an act which is just waiting to happen…in any moment at any given time. WE may have to stop once in a while and take inventory of all we have and how we might be a giver to one less fortunate. I see myself as a giver; however, I know that I need to do more to walk-my-talk in the eyes of my awesome Lord.

My prayer for us all this week is that we’ll challenge ourselves with one question: “Am I giving or taking?”

GOD is Good! GOD is Great!! Always!!!

I love you,

Margaret

My spiritual thriller, “That Melvin Bray” is available on Amazon