Christmas Gift Ideas - 21 Solutions for a Better Holiday Season

It's been a year since you promised your starving wallet and tearshot eyes that you'd be proactive and prevent future holiday breakdowns by planning ahead and avoiding the nonstop shopping frenzy. If the idea of ​​a calm, comfortable holiday season still sets your little heart atwitter, now's the time to start compiling a list of good Christmas gift ideas to show loved ones your year-round devotion. Here are 21 ideas to get you started:

1. Give your best pal a ticket to attend an afternoon holiday movie marathon and pig-out. Bring a cookie or cupcake decorating kit and ingredients for whipping up a batch of chubby red velvet Santas.

2. No book lover's collection is complete without a special edition of a holiday classic, such as Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol or Margery Williams's The Velveteen Rabbit .

3. Tell your pajama-loving friend (you know, the one who eats Hot Pockets for dinner every night) that she can attend her own in-home cooking demonstration wearing bunny slippers if she'd like.

4. Show your crafty niece how to put her tactile skills to work making handmade clothespin dolls. Pack a stocking with old-fashioned clothespins, a few spools of embroidery thread, a preteen-friendly glue gun, and a fine-point Sharpie.

5. A countertop compiler, which can be anything from an "official" in-house bin to a large airtight jar, is a useful gift for the city-dwelling environmentalist who New Year's resolution is to start a small garden.

6. Bring the holiday host and hostess a basket of fresh ingredients for making Bloody Marys or Mojitos and you might be invited to attend a cocktail hour at their Aspen chalet.

7. Vow to spend more Sunday afternoon watching classic movies with your parents if they promise to use a yearlong Netflix membership to explore new film genres.

8. Your spouse was probably too busy, um, studying to think about picking up a distinguished-looking coffee mug from his or her college bookstore. On Christmas morning, present your beloved with a cup of coffee and take a few moments to remember a favorite holiday home from school.

9. Give your dentally obsessed coworker a miniature Christmas tree decorated with fancy toothpaste samples, natural dental floss, and an adorable suction-cup toothbrush cover.

10. Modern sushi dish sets do double duty as tasting platters. Pick up a few different patterns and keep them on-hand as emergency gifts.

11. A dainty pickle ornament is always a hit, especially if your second cousin's children are anxious for a game to play while the grownups talk turkey.

12. Permanently boost your boss's mood with an insulated mug and removable coffee press. Pair with a bag of rich, bold beans and replace the morning grumpies with some extra pep.

13. It's too soon for a puppy, but your animal-obsessed kids can practice pet ownership with a little piggy or moo-cow from the Adopt-a-Farm-Animal Project.

14. Your loyal babysitter will be thrilled with a decorative tin filled with S'mores ingredients, especially if you suggest she teach the kids in front of the fireplace while you change the baby's diaper.

15. Fill a sturdy hamper with luxurious take-care items that the college students in your book club can not afford. It's amazing how decadent organic conditioners and shaving creams can feel after a night of cramming at the library.

16. Before you decorate the tree, spend a snowy afternoon with the kids personalizing a box of plain ornaments with a pack of paint markers, a shaker of multicolored glitter, and a roll of cheerful ribbon for replacing those drab metal hangers.

17. In case the new driver in your family groans over a monogrammed canvas bag filled with jumper cables, a digital tire gauge, and a First-Aid kit, add a coveted new CD for good measure.

18. Get your hands on a gorgeous photo of your aunt and uncle's favorite vacation spot. Commission a local artist to create an original painting based on the scene.

19. 'Tis the season for helping your child's teacher get ready for the long stretch before Spring Break. A versatile work tote is a universal must-have for anyone who sanity depends on organization.

20. If your brother or sister has always wanted to just get on a plane and go, a nautical map of his or her favorite would-be destination would look lovely near the front door.

21. Help your parents overcome those forgetful senior moments with chalkboard or whiteboard decals that they can use to remember recipes, family events, and easy-to-miss deadlines. They might even remember how much they enjoy writing little love notes to one another.

Once you've got a sizable list in front of you, taking the time to enjoy a mug or two of hot chocolate will not feel like a luxury, but a reward for honoring your promise to yourself. Now that you've got the blueprints for a season of thoughtful giving and wide-open afternoon, you're on your way to becoming the rare holiday-lover you once aspired to be. In fact, you might even want to get a few friends, whip up a batch of homemade eggnog, and host a small present-wrapping party, just for fun.

Are You Buying Sports Seats For Your Car?

Purchasing sports seats for your car is considered as one of the ways of sprucing up and upgrading your vehicle. In fact, it is one of the not so used ways to customize a vehicle. You see, for most people, the common ways of upgrading a vehicle would be to change wheels, wheel covers, car seat covers, carpets, bumpers, and grilles.

Changing your car's seats to sports seats may not be so popular, there are some matters to take into consideration when you have decided that sports seats may be the best thing that could happen to your vehicle. After all, overlooked as they may seem, sports seats actually do not just provide your car with a sporty and aesthetic appeal but they also give you and your passengers comfort through long or short drives.

Before doing anything else, you should ask yourself how much are you willing to spend and how much could you really afford. By answering this first question, you would be able to check and ask around as per any sports seats that would fall within your budget range. Remember that sports seats come in a variety of options - each more sophisticated than the next. In fact, there are even sports seats that come with electronic adjustments of the lumbar support.

If you have no idea whatever as per the kind of sports seats that you would like for your car, you can check out automotive magazines. Or you can also visit automated websites. If you choose to do so, you can also try contacting manufacturers to get the names of dealers of sports seats in your locality.

Upon visiting an auto parts store that offers sports seats, make sure that you ask the store's personnel to show you their collection of these. That way, you can personally inspect the seats so you could choose which ones to purchase. Consider the seats' safety features. Make sure that you choose those that has a high and close back rest which has the capacity to support and protect your back. Also make sure that it supports not only your back but your whole body as well.

Electric Bike Overview

Electric Bikes represent an alternative mode of transport that is both eco friendly, convenient and cost a fraction of the price a fully motorized motorcycle would in this day and age. For those that want all the benefits of a bicycle but would also appreciate the help that a fully rechargeable motor provides such modes of transport, the electric bike is the perfect solution.

What Is An Electric Bike

An electric bike is for all intents and purposes, a regular bicycle with a major difference. All electric bikes have on board a small electric motor that can power the wheels completely on its own. Today, they are popular known as the E-bike. The motor is powered by a rechargeable battery that lasts for a variable amount of time depending on the type of battery, quality of the battery as well as how the E-bike is used.

Sigs of up to fifteen miles per hour are possible but the drain on the battery can be immune. They are very popular in a few specific regions and countries across the globe. The one country that probably has the most electric bikes in use today is China. There are more than a hundred million examples on the roads of China today and its popularity seems to be growing. The other region where its popularity is booming is in Europe. Because of its ever growing popularity, many manufacturers have come into the arena looking to grab a piece of the pie. As such, there are over thirty different E-bike manufacturers around the world today.

There are also a number of benefits that come with using such a bike. In many places, they are not considered automobiles. As such, they are not too many stringed regulations placed on such items. Additionally, you may also be able to avoid paying taxes on what would otherwise be classified as an automobile like in the case of a motorcycle or a car. Costs are largely linked to the quality of components used as well as the brand in question. Those with cutting edge technology are likely to cost the most. The cheapest are usually mass market electric bikes that are very common in China in particular. However, cheaper variants are known to be a bit bulky and are made purely for function.

Expensive examples that have cutting edge ion batteries and features like regenerative braking systems are sure to cost a whole lot more compared to entry level bikes. Rarely, there are examples that even come with different gears for convenience.

Getting the Most Out Of An Electric Bike

The lifespan of the battery is directly linked to the length activated for as well as the terrain / slope of the terrain it is used in. This is something you will quickly learn within the first week of owning an electric bike. In the end, battery usage is directly linked to the motors work cycle. The more you use it, the faster the battery loses its charge. Additionally, these motors work the most when you're going uphill so keep that in mind. To get the most out of your battery, it helps if you know the route you travel through intimately. You can then decide how you want to spend your battery power. Its usually best to mix and match between pure cycling and periods when the bike is motorized.

The Bible is More Than a Book - It is the Word of the Living God

Hello All. My family just went to see 'Inkheart' at the movie theater. The story line was that when certain people read a book characters from the book come into reality; and, people from the present are sucked into the book. I suppose it is sort of like the movie Jumanji - except it is a book instead of a board game. Seven of us went to see it. Three liked it; three did not care for it; and one slept through most of it so he did not vote.

Anyway, I began to think about the book that pushed me into it. It is the Bible of course. I read it over the years; I had favorite passes; I gained a general knowledge of what was in the Bible; I gained particular knowledge of scriptures providing evidence of the theology of the church that I grow up in.

Then something dreadful happened. My sister dropped dead of a heart attack at age 33. I was immediately comforted that April was in heaven, but I still had to deal with the present and the reality that she had died. I was overwhelmed with grief.

The Bible is what saved me. It rolled me into it like an escape from a nightmare. As long as I read the Bible I was in a different realm, a reality where I was somewhat satisfied, where things appeared OK to some extent. I read it so much that it looked like I almost memorized the Old Testament.

Prior to that time, I knew the people in the Bible were real, but it did not really seem to sink in. During that time of sorrow it seemed that the more I read the Bible, the more I began to see the people in the Bible as people just like me. They struggled with grief and sorrow. They struggled to do what was right. They struggle to get by from day to day. I was 'dropped into that book'.

If you are a Christian today, struggling with something in your life, your daily salvation is also in that Book.

Great preachers and Bible teachers of the ages have been plunged into the Bible as well. Some people are dropped into the Bible by the Holy Spirit. They do not need a specific disaster or sorrow or in their personal life. They are not necessarily called into full time ministry. They just get interested in reading and studying the Bible and it gets hold of them. They begin to 'live' in the Book.

Just as people are dropped into the Bible, the Word of the Living God, there are things and creatures in the Bible that live in this world. Evil is with us. Love is with us. Sorrow and joy are things from the Book that live here as well. There are some dreadful creatures mentioned in Revelation that one day will come into the world now now live in. You do not want to be here when that happens.

Along with these creatures will come earth's dark hours. If you would escape these evil times, you need to act now.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved today, There is time.

If you have already trusted Jesus Christ, the author of the Bible, then give thanks.
Thanksgiving is done in deeds as well as in words.
If you love Christ, you will serve Him.
You will do the things He says to do.
You will set out each day to:
be kind to one another, '
tenderhearted,
forgiving,
Because this is how Jesus Christ treated us.

AND, you will tell others that Christ died for them; and, they can also escape from the wrath to come through Jesus Christ.

Tell them, 'For God so loved the world that he cave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.'

How to Claim Deceased Relatives' Unclaimed Money

Unclaimed money can be claimed from owners who may be disappointed relatives. According to unclaimed money laws and a recent statement from the US Supreme Court (Texas vs. New Jersey, 379 US 674, 1965), the unclaimed property is returned to the state of the property owner's last known address. If the address can not be found, then it is returned to the state in which the business holding the funds is incorporated. At this stage, it is the responsibility of the unclaimed property office to find the rightful owners. The reassuring part of this process is that the unclaimed money for a dead relative can be claimed without any fear of the time limit; there is no time limit on claiming your property.

If you are on a mission to claim unclaimed money or any unclaimed money owed to your relative, then the following checklist might be a great way to kick-off the campaign. The following information was taken from the office of unclaimed property:

• Name of the relative / predecessor (including maiden or former names)
• Their Social Security number, current address
• All previous addresses where she / he lived while in the state
• They will want the same information about any other individual for what you're the legal beneficiary

The credit goes to the Social Security Administration which keeps tracks of all the personal and professional details of a person from life to death. This information helps the authorities in charge of the unclaimed funds, as they have the accurate data in front of them which they can utilize to cross-check the information that you have provided for your relative.

The government at both the federal and state levels is determined to return the unclaimed funds to the rightful owners, and they are leaving no stone unturned to locate the actual owners of these unclaimed assets. If you are trying to find unclaimed property, now is the best time to do that. It has to be understood that the unclaimed assets are in safe hands and can be claimed at any point of time.

As compared to the earlier years, both federal and state Governments have simplified the claim process to a great extent. So, if you are looking for that money for which you are the right heir / owner, it makes practical sense to take all the help from the government machinery. At the present moment, every media avenue is being tapped by the state and federal agencies, and they have shown the proactive stance towards providing all the logistical and information-based help to the claimants. If someone is looking for a heir unclaimed money or relative unclaimed money, then the best process is prescribed by the state unclaimed money websites.

Evangelism - The Great Commission Is For You

Evangelism is what we are all called to do by God in the Bible. In the book of Matthew it states "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things and Lo I am with you always even even the end of the earth "(Matthew 28: 19-20)

So the text begins

"Go Ye"
Who is ye? Ye translated in to modern English is You so we are now clear who the text is aimed at (that means everyone just to clarify). Then it says

"Teach all nations"
So this does not mean skip past the Muslim "s or Buddhists" or those are Atheists, ALL means what it says, all, so no one is exempt. Next it says

"Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit".
This means that we have to walk the full mile on this we have to let people know about baptism and its importance. We can not just say hey Jesus loves you and that "s it the job is done, we need to give some more information so people are aware what option they have.

Teaching them to observe all things
We have to give them the whole picture of what God is telling us and how best we can live our lives. In other wards we have to let people know what other lifestyle choices are available, what are the other ways you can live your life. Other principals and standard they can adopt.

"and Lo I am with you always even to the end of the earth"
Now this is the part that a lot of people forget. God does not send us to do something and then leave us to get on with it. The verse ends with the assurance that he is with us each and every step of the way.

Understanding the Bible - Help for Your Bible Study

The Bible is not always easy to understand. And we are held accountable for how we absorb it into our lives. Proverbs 4:23 makes it clear that each of us is responsible for his own heart. Consequently, many of us begin our study by reading comments and articles by those who we figure should know what they are talking about. These supplementary studies can be very valuable, if we adhere to a few simple rules at the outside.

First and foremost, beware of opinions presented as truths. The views of men can and do end up becoming the teachings of men, which then become the traditions of men and the traditions of men render the Word of no effect (Mark 7:13; Romans 4:14; Mark 7: 8,9; ). * Begin with prayer, a good place to begin any endeavor! Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to understand (Ephesians 1:18) and your heart to receive the incorruptible Word (1 Peter 1:23). Pray for wisdom (James 1: 5) to rightly divide the Scripture (2 Timothy 2:15).

* Now read everything the Bible says about the subject, or the particular Scripture you are attempting to rightly divide, by following any references to supporting Scriptures in both Old and New Testaments and using your concordance. At this point, you are filling your spirit with the Word. Do not make the mistake of being angry about understanding all of it at this point.

* Be sure to read the passage precedent and following each Scripture to gain an awareness of the passage's context.

* Be diligent in your word studies, using your comprehensive concordance to understand the nuances of the original Bible languages.

* Finally, formulate a statement in your own words, a paraphrase based on your study. Check and recheck to make sure you have not put your own spin on it. This exercise alone may be enough to illuminate the study for you, to open up the confusing Scripture or to provide you Biblical continuity of teaching. If not, and you are looking for some supplementary teaching on the subject, continue reading.

* Now read what others have to say. Stay with teachers who consistently stand firmly on what the Word has to say and who do not veer off into the realm of opinion, those who have shown to be careful in their study and trustworthy in their interpretations.

* Immediately discount any comments based on negativity or criticism of others. There may be a germ of veracity, sincerity or authenticity buried underneath, but those who resort to a negative approach pass along with it a spirit Christians do not need to embrace. Their approach will absolutely tear down any truth and sincerity they may have begun with.

* Be wary of absolute attitudes relating areas of Scripture that are in question among trusted Bible scholars. It is necessary for each of us to remain teachable, open to the Holy Spirit giving us interpretation beyond what may have become (disputable) denominational doctrine.

* Make it a rule never to argument Scripture. The Word of God is not debatable; it is revelatory. God does not need your abilities as a disputer to bring about revelation in another. He says, for I am watching over My Word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12). He only needs you to speak the uncompromised Word, to say what He says - the Holy Spirit will reveal to others (Ephesians 1:17) and God will perform it (Isaiah 55:11)

Above all, do not become discouraged by any lack of understanding or by discrepancies among Bible teachers. The Word of God is meant for you and with the help of the Holy Spirit, spending time each day in the life-giving, delivering, encouraging, empowering, comforting Word of God, will lead you to understanding. Know that God has promised it will accomplish His will and He Himself will bring it to pass.

Copyright 2006 So-lu'shunz Leadership Services