I love my new Christmas App

I love having apps on my phone that keep me organized. I downloaded one the other day that I am so glad I found. It is a free app called Christmas List Pro. It has this cute little Santa as it's logo so you will know which one to download if you think you might like it. 

It is very user friendly, making it easy to create your own custom gift list. Simply click on the person you want to add. There is a place to enter sizes, how much you want to spend, items you want to purchase, and a check box to mark the item purchased. It then shows you how many of the items on your list you have purchased for each person and lets you know what still needs purchased.

You can easily set a password so anyone using your phone can't check your list. You can also keep track of your spending so you don't go overboard.

I can already tell I'll be making my list and checking it twice with the help of this neat little app.

Windows of Gold

I love poetry. Over the years, many poems have inspired me, calmed me and just over all lifted me up. Perhaps my most favorite poem is Windows of Gold by Helen Steiner Rice. It is very beautiful and teaches us such a valuable lesson. I read it for the first time when I was only about 13 or 14 years old and it has always been my favorite poem over the years.

Windows of Gold

There is a legend that has often been told 

Of the boy who searched for the Windows of Gold. 

The beautiful windows he saw far away 

When he looked in the valley at sunrise each day.

And he yearned to go down to the valley below 

But lived on a mountain covered with snow, 

And he knew it would be a difficult trek, 

But that was a journey he wanted to make.

So he planned by day and he dreamed by night 

Of how he could reach The Great Shining Light. 

And one golden morning when dawn broke through 

And the valley sparkled with diamond of dew.

He started to climb down the mountainside 

With the Windows of Gold as his goal and his guide. 

He traveled all day and, weary and worn, 

With bleeding feet and clothes that were torn.

He entered the peaceful valley town 

Just as the Golden Sun went down. 

But he seemed to have lost his "Guiding Light," 

The windows were dark that had once been bright.

And hungry and tired and lonely and cold 

He cried, "Won't You Show Me The Windows of Gold?" 

And a kind hand touched him and said, "Behold! 

High On The Mountain Are The Windows of Gold."

For the sun going down in a great golden ball 

Had burnished the windows of his cabin so small, 

And the Kingdom of God with its Great Shining light, 

Like the Golden Windows that shone so bright.

Is not a far distant place, somewhere, 

It's as close to you as a silent prayer, 

And your search for God will end and begin 

When you look for Him and find Him within.

Author: Helen Steiner Rice