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Christmas Traditions Day 14-15th.............. Best Light Displays in South Florida

Yesterday we celebrated 2 Annual Christmas Traditions.  The first one is one Tonia began 3-4 years ago, or more.  After reading the book "The Christmas Jars" Tonia decided to begin to save OUR change all year around and then giving it to someone at Christmas who God lays on her heart. Its normally someone who has had a tough year. Yesterday Tonia went down to the store, poured it all into the change machine and found she had saved $50. in change. Thats after she took most of it out for our Grandsons for their missions offering this summer at our Vacation Bible School.

I wondered the first year where all my change was going? I couldn't figure it out. I would take my change out of my pocket at night, and the next day it was gone!!! I finally found out it was in her Christmas Jar. But I guess how can you argue with what shes doing. It avgs. from $40-75 each year. Its not much but when you have little it blesses someone. If you haven't read the Book you might want to pick it up . Its on amazon and at any bookstore. (A very heart warming story of how Tonia got the book. Her good friend Debby Brown gave her the book which Debby's Mom Sally Rogers gave her before her death. What a great tribute and legacy Sally has left to her friends and her girls) 

This tradition, might be the longest running one in my family. It began when I was a little kid and Ive never stopped. We check out the most popular light displays each year in South Florida. Normally the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel or Channel 10 has the most popular. We have been on most of the list as Oasis Church each year. With Oasis Church taking the year off and giving our Volunteers one Christmas off, we really wanted to see some lights. So last night we went up to Trade Winds Park and their light display. It was good, but nothing like Christmas at the Oasis. Oasis Light display is so personal, and the walk around factor is huge, compared to just staying in your car. It seemed like trade winds was paired down some this year. For a heads up if you go, its $9.00 on Monday and Tuesday, and the rest of the Week its $12.00 a car. If you want 3-D glasses they are $3. for 3 pairs a car. I passed. We have more than we ever will use.  Since the Trade Winds Park display was a little disappointing this year, we drove around and still did not find the lights like normal. But we found some cool houses, in downtown hollywood . One of the best was an old friend, Greg and Lynn's  on 31st Road just  North off Taft Street.  (This was alot more fun looking at lights when the kids were small. Wish I had the grandsons with me. That would have been fun.)

I was really needing a good night of light displays after missing Oasis so much this year. Im having withdrawals. Im going to be doing some big time checking light displays out in NC/TN while Im up there for Christmas this year. 
 

25 Days of Christmas Traditions....Day 12-13

Yesterday I shared my Fav of all Traditions , the 12 Days of  Christmas. Today though are two of my Fav traditions also.

Day 12  All the Christmas Cards we receive we put in a basket or some type of holder. When the kids were at home we would spend the first few months of the next year praying for a diff. family who had sent the card. We haven't done this the last few years since our dinner table isn't as consistent as it was when all the kids were at home. It was a neat thing to each day remember friends and family in prayer at the dinner table based on the cards. Maybe ill do it this year during my daily morning devotions. Anyone else ever do this?

Day 13  For many years we have taken the picture Christmas Cards we receive from family and friends and put them on the re-frigerator for the first few months of the new year. We still do that and are building our pic collection now for this next year. Thanks to the families who have sent us their picture Christmas Cards. I really enjoy seeing them when we go in the re-frig. Sometimes Ill just stop and pray for one of the families prior to feeding my face.  

I know alot of us put our kids pics and coloring pics up on re-frig. Anyone else put pics of families from Christmas up? Are there any other traditions using Christmas Cards or Christmas Family Pics.? Just wondering?

Oasis Weekly Email Newsletter............December 12, 2010

I havent shared our Weekly Local Oasis Newsletter with our extend Oasis Family and we have some very important things to share this week about two BIG events coming up.

 

Dear Guy,   This week we are Homeless. I share our story on my blog, please do check it out! Even those who are homeless don't have to feel hopeless, or helpless. But it's easy to feel that way for sure. You don't have to be poor to be homeless, and you can be rich and be hopeless. Helpless is, many times, a choice. The story I share shows how to bring Help and Hope to the Homeless . Or for that fact, our series this weekend, talks about how we can see life from a new perspective. In the second message of our Christmas Series, Believe, the title is Life Never Really Works Out For Me.  I know many of us feel that way right now, or will feel this way at some time. There are some really very helpful ways we will discuss this weeekend and next week at our 7 Nights of Worship Services, that will help us to have a new Perspective. I hope you will be here. The very person who really doesn't want to be here Sunday; or feels, "I just don't have the energy" or "I'm too busy" is the one who NEEDS this message the most. I hope you will all be here. Here can be in Pines, North Miami or Hollywood.   Christmas Eve is almost here!! Yes, I said it's almost here!! Just two weeks from today. Doesn't seem possible does it?  This year we have not only the printed invites you can pick up at your campus to invite someone, but we also have Email Invites through our website, where you can just fill in the email address for those you want to invite and if desired, put a little note to them and invite them. You can just CLICK this LINK and put your friend's name in. Now I don't know how much easier it could be to invite someone than this. Christmas Eve, along with Easter, is the most attended time of the year for those who do not normally go to church. Your church is decorated and we are ready to share the most amazing Love Story with your friends and family at our traditional Christmas Eve Service. I hope you'll be there, and please invite a friend to come with you. The invite has all 3 campus times on it.   JANUARY 10, 2010  --  1:10 p.m.  THIS  will be one of the BIGGEST DAYS in our church's 18 year history. You don't want to miss it. It is the first time in almost 17 years that all our Oasis Family will worship together under one roof. That seems amazing. At the time we had to go to multiple services in our little trailer building, we only had about 200 attending. Today on any given week in all services on all our campuses, we can have 2,500 folks attend our multiple worship services. This day, the 2nd Sunday in January, I look forward to ALL of us being together in one combined service. It's going to be ONE of those DAYS. I'm just telling you!!! You don't want to miss it!! It will be the ONLY SERVICE AT ANY CAMPUS for that entire week of January 9-15. So, you miss it...you miss your Oasis Family and your time of worship for the week. God has done Amazing things here at Oasis these past 18 years.  We will celebrate that, but also "Look Forward" to the Amazing things He will do in the future. For more information you can go to the article on our website. We will have electronic email invites up after Christmas for you to invite your friends also.   JANUARY 10, following the Combined Service, will be a gigantic TAILGATE Party. This is when we all eat together and enjoy some time of fun and fellowship. You and your family will bring your favorite International dish representing your culture, and if you're single, you will be asked to bring your favorite, appetizer or dessert from your culture. We will put it all together and will eat together. If you're not sure what a Tailgate Party is, well, in sports they do this before a BIG game. But  we are doing it afterwards. It's just a big time of fun, and eating. More info to follow on where to bring your food before the service, etc.   I will keep it to this for now. There's tons of stuff on our visitoasis.org web pages about what is happening around Oasis Church. Please make sure you go there!   I also share on my blog this month some of my family's favorite Christmas traditions. I'm sharing 25 of our traditions up until Christmas Day. I love Christmas! Will you go on and check them out? Maybe you'll start a new one, and even better, make a comment and share one of your favorite traditions with me. I want to hear them. I love to hear of people's Christmas traditions. (One of mine has to do with Frosty the Snowman...you need to make sure you see that one so you'll be prepared!!)   God bless you, and I'll see you sunday.     Guy Melton Pastor Oasis Church http://www.guymelton.com http://www.visitoasis.org

25 Christmas Traditions, My All TIME Favorite....Days 9,10, 11

My all time Favorite Christmas Tradition was probably the hardest one and the most time consuming.

While its a tradition that has now been moth balled, it is I think the most memorable. The funny thing is it wasn't really for me. But it blessed me beyond anything else.

Day 9   My All Time Favorite Tradition: 
Each year while the boys were at home growing up I would do the "12 Days of Christmas" . That meant 12 days prior to the "25"th I would bring home a present for the entire family. I usually shopped for most of them early and put them under the tree. They would not be marked, but with a number. The Fam each night would pick a number and that was the one they got. The hours it took was overwhelming. Actually I don't know how I fit it in. It was stressful but fun . I didn't have the Dollar Stores like they do today and my Son enjoys. So it was JC Penny, Sears, Walmart was not in South Florida, but KMart was etc. Malls, malls and more malls. I get tired thinking about it.  I kept them between $1-5  a day. Tonia got one too. I really think it was the most anticipated thing each year or at least each day. I loved doing it, more than the kids enjoyed the anticipation. I think even Tonia liked it.  As the kids got older the presents got more expensive and harder to get . From malted milk candies in the half gallon carton to Gas Cards and Taco Bell and Wendy's. Even theater cards.  Finally i had to move to "7Days " of Christmas for budget sake.   Still today I think of this each Christmas and miss it !! I did it with Tonia even after the boys were finally grown and gone. Not sure this year, since Budgets and times are tighter.  I guess the greatest thing of all was several years ago when Nate had two sons, he decided to begin this Family tradition with his own Boys. That was special. Im jealous though , he gets to shop at the $1. store. so cheap, but so boring. The running around from wpb to key-west for just the right thing for each of the Boys and Tonia was the fun part. And under $5. that was the hard part.  ANYONE ELSE DO THIS TRADITION? SOME OF YOU SHOULD TRY IT!!

Day 10  Tonia Always Watches, White Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street each year.
I don't get into that, but once and a while Ill check in. I think it was last year I watch both with her. Not sure Ive ever done that. She loves it. I would say many years its "Charlie Brown Christmas" that comes in a close third. 

Day 11 Taking the boys to the Mall to have pic taken with Santa. This is pretty much everyones I guess except those of you really spiritual people who teach your kids from the time they are 1 year old, that Santa is really "SATAN" spelled backwards. I feel sorry for you. You miss out on so much fun. But hey, thats your decision. The fav year was when Tonia ran the Santa Booth in the Boca town Center and her  mom and dad came down that Christmas and Gil dressed and played santa one day, and we took the boys to see Santa. None of them even realized it was their Pops. That was priceless. Ill have to find that Pic and post it.

25 Days of Christmas Traditions....Days 5-8

Our family has so many Christmas Traditions. Some are just so normal, and not very much to really talk about, but for us they are a very part of each Christmas.  In Days 5-8 they are special to us. Maybe not to others, but I am enjoying remembering the traditions as the month moves toward the Big day.

Day 5  Frosty the Snowman- Each year I pick a busy Weekend night at our Giant Community Light Display and wear our Frosty Snowman Costume all over the property meeting everyone. The kids love it. The adults who serve as volunteers all want to know who you are. I have never until now told anyone that I am the one that does this. Teens alot of the nights wear the costume, but no one can figure who the person is that night. I enjoy just walking around and seeing the smiles of kids and adults and just being "Anonymous" if that is Stealth. Walking around in a Big Costume looking like a melting Snowman. This year our church is taking a break from the year round planning and work for the display. Next year we will be back and I bet no one remembers this post and what Ive made public.

Day 6 Chevy Chases "Christmas Vacation"  For years and years we have pulled out the VHS, yes, tape out and watched this classic movie. It is the ultimate light maniac movie. The main character is called "Sparky" and so if you hear Tonia refer to Sparky, she is referring to me and my obsession of Christmas lights . ( If you choose to watch it, I only recommend the TV version, the original has some raw shots in it)

Day 7 Set up the Nativities each year all around our house. We  have so many nativities. All because we began about 14 years ago doing a public display at our church. Several hundred folks bring one to 50 different nativities. We have had as many as 700 displayed. Tonia takes hours to display the Nativities in all areas of our home. Its a constant reminder of what the season is all about. Large, small, coconut, olive wood from Israel, and Indian. All themes, about one event. The birth of Christ. Every room has one. I dont know how many are in our Collection but im sure its approaching 50 for sure.

Day 8  Because we do the Church Display , we began many years ago to look for a unique Nativity from trips we would take around the country and from other countries. We have a Coconut Nativity which is carved , we bought from a store in Hawaii on our 25th anniversary. We have them from Quito, Peru,Israel, Caribbean, Italy, Greece, and other places I don't remember. Its always fun regardless of where we are in the world or what time of the year looking through the shops for a new and unique Nativity.

Homeless are staying in our Buildings at our Pines Campus.....

For the 3rd year our Women's ministry has hosted Homeless families in December. There is a ministry , Coalition to END Homelessness that has a Church Based ministry where they sign up churches various weeks of the year to host Homeless Families. The Womens Ministry started doing this 3 years ago and have continued to do so.

This is a wonderful time when so many women mainly come up and bring food, gifts, play games and sleep overnight with the families .  In the suburbs we don't know much about traditional Homelessness , but this is a good way to learn more about it and those who are homeless. They aren't all drug addicts and emotional and mentally ill people.

These are men and women who have lost a job, had financial set backs and found themselves living in cars and the street. The previous years have been women and their children. This year they are finding whole families with men also.

Tonia through this week of hosting 3 years ago, found herself burdened to go beyond this week and started volunteering at the Downtown Fort Lauderdale, home called The Way with the Ministry each Thursday. It is unbelievable the stories she hears each week. Many are whole families living in their cars with children who have to go to school the next day. Parents some of who have to go to work in the morning after sleeping in a car. Its heartbreaking. Many have been professionals, school teachers, secretaries and folks who are hard working but have been laid off in these tough times.

As a church Im glad there are women who are willing to stay up most of the night, ministering to families and making make shift rooms and bringing some Christmas cheer and love for this week.

I am blessed  by Debby Brown, Helen Chisholm, and all the women who have worked so hard this year . I have only gone up to say hello and to hassle our ladies for a few minutes, but I got to get in the picture with the wonderful families. Tonia has been up sleeping at Church the last two nights. I love her. She is awesome!!  Shes my Hero!! I cant complain about eating Canned soup at home while she and others are making great sacrifices for those that Jesus loves and came to die for and love the "Least of These" of the world. 

Christmas Traditions 3-4 of 25 Days............

My typepad blog page was down last night so Im putting two Traditions on today's Blog.

Each year Tonia and I take a Fall , Leaf Vacation. One thing I asked God when He called me to stay in South Florida to start Oasis Church was to see the different seasons. Fall is beautiful, but Its also the time when we begin to listen to Christmas Music. We have always taken our Christmas CD's,/ tapes , LOL, on Fall Vacation. Its the official kick off of the Christmas Season for our family.

The other Tradition and day 4 of our 25 Days of Christmas Tradition's is the CD I listen to most everyday in December!! Many days in October and November.  For those that know me its "Alabama's Christmas "

Now you have to understand I hate country music. For some reason this 17 year old CD, /Tape caught my attention and I have loved it. Everyone on staff is so sick of hearing it every Christmas on our work days, and our Oasis Christmas Display each night.

My fav songs, Tennessee Christmas, Thistle Hair the Christmas Bear.

So what is your fav Christmas Album? Song? I love most of them, but Alabama's Christmas C.D. is my fav.  

Christmas Traditions Day 2 of 25 ....."Flocked"

Day 2 of the 25 days of Christmas traditions is best described as "Flocked"

When our sons were seniors in High School we would allow each of them to pick the tree that Christmas. Anything they wanted. It was fun, but one year one of them always liked the "Flocked " ones and of course if you know me, well you know I dont pay twice as much or more for some fake snow on a tree!!! But that year we did. The one and only Flocked tree ever at the Melton Home.

 This aint no "Fockers" Flocking for sure!!!

If you have a Flocking story share it with me!!!

I am sharing everyday this month a family tradition, check out the first one here, and why Im doing it. I hope you will share some of yours with me. I would love to hear them.
 

Would love to hear of one of your Christmas Traditions!!!

Family Traditions 25 days of December....Day 1

This month I am going to attempt to share one of our Family Traditions each day through Christmas day. Today, December 1st is day 1. These traditions have been practiced for either most of our 34 years of Marriage, or in recent years. Some are my traditions, some are primarily Tonia's and some are the whole family.

I have for a long time loved Christmas Traditions. Even though my family growing up had very tough times and we did not have a lot. There were some very important traditions my mom made sure we practiced at Christmas and even with the Chaos of my Dads alcoholism, my mom always tried to make Christmas special. I think alot of my love for Christmas today came from my mom taking a tough situation making it the best she could for us.

I love to hear of different family traditions. In a church of 84 nations, it really is interesting to hear the different traditions.  My hope is as I share some basic but very important traditions this month that some of you who read my blog post will share yours back. I would love you to share them with the rest of us. Maybe some new traditions will begin this year that will last for a lifetime and beyond.

My first tradition is really one that begins prior to December. like many families Thanksgiving is a big holiday. My oldest son, Jim says its his fav of the entire year. On thanksgiving day, while we give thanks and work at having the spirit of thanksgiving we also use thanksgiving day and weekend to kick off Christmas. While as a kid we did not get a tree many times until just a few days prior to Christmas. we usually begin to decorate for Christmas if not on Thanksgiving day, on Friday or Saturday the lights, and some times the Tree begins to be put up . That depends if we will be in town for Christmas or not.

Thanksgiving day while Tonia fixes the main meal which she loves to do, she always has the Macy's Day Parade on. She may not see it all, but it has to be on no matter what. That officially kicks off Christmas for her. For me the afternoon normally was around the TV watching the Dallas or Detroit football game. Unfortunately in recent years with both team being at best mediocre the games are usually painfully boring to watch. So our first Tradition for Christmas is Thanksgiving, Macy's Day Parade and the beginning to pull the boxes out of the attic for Christmas. (BTW, 3 years ago, Tonia finally got to attend the Macy's Parade in NYC. It was awesome!!! Unfortunately it rained hard and we were so cold we didnt stay through it all. But a good trip anyway)

What is your family Tradition? and does Christmas start Thanksgiving day or weekend for you?