Viking Christmas

Raoul’s Two Cents: December 19, 2025

Homemade Gifts

If you don’t want to ponder, move on to the Jokes.

Are you still contemplating your last minute Christmas shopping?

When I was a young lad, I remember my Mom telling me that I shouldn’t spend for a gift. She said the homemade ones are the ones she really likes. I didn’t believe her so I would give her frivolous purchased presents (like Christmas bells, chocolate bars, and ornaments) from the allowance I had saved. Those presents didn’t last very long. Of course. she was always a good actress and appreciated my gifts. She always made me feel good.

Now, in my senior years, I’ve come to realize that she was right all along. The homemade presents that I know took time to create are the ones I treasure the most. When you give an original gift, you are giving part of your soul. I have a friend who makes these intricate handmade cards that I keep in a box full of memories. My grandkids’ artworks are plastered on my office wall along with family portraits. Aren’t they the true blessings of my life?

This Christmas, many of us are struggling to make ends meet and worried about finding the right gift. Are you one of them? Why not follow my Mom’s advice? It’s the homemade ones that are the real treasures.

This is the last weekend before Christmas! If you have the opportunity to watch a Christmas performance, do go. It’s a great way to get into the holiday spirit. TGIF people!

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Quotes of the Week

Tucker: “But she gave me the perfect gift.”
Clara: “What?”
Tucker: “You.”
— Cynthia Hand, Unearthly

“Everyone has a gift for something, even if it is the gift of being a good friend.”
— Marian Anderson

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”
— Jim Valvano

“Memory was a curse, yes, he thought, but it was also the greatest gift. Because if you lost memory you lost everything.”
— Anne Rice, Blood And Gold

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
— James 1:7

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
— Luke 11:13

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16