5th Day of Christmas Giveaway…with Melanie Chitwood
Hi and welcome to the 5th Day of Christmas in our special series. If you are just joining us in our 12 Days of Giveaway goodies, click here to get caught up. You can enter to win the prizes on any of the 12 posts until midnight EST on Sunday, December 13th.
The fifth day of Christmas is fitting for us to host this particular Proverbs 31 sister of mine since she is known for writing and speaking on marriage—(Get it? F-I-V-E gold-en rings……!!!) Melanie Chitwood is a true gem…I’m talkin’ a huge, glorious, sparking gem embedded in one of those five golden rings. She is calming, caring, prayerful and the type of person whose very presence is a gift. I just love her smooth, soothing, southern voice. (as opposed to my Midwestern-talks-so-fast-listening-to-her-is-like-taking-a-drink-from-a-firehose voice!) Just being around Melanie makes my heart rate slow down and my worries melt away. Oh….and as you can see, she is stinkin’ cute too–with a family of males to match! So today…..meet my friend Melanie, in her own words:
Welcome and thanks for visiting! I’m Melanie Chitwood. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, with my husband Scott and two sons Zachary and Tyler. We are co-owners of a new business, Carolina Courts, an indoor basketball/volleyball facility. Our lives revolve around basketball. I often think of myself as a Barbie doll girl in a basketball world.
I’ve been speaking and writing for Proverbs 31 Ministries for three years. It is so much fun to serve with the team of Proverbs ladies, both speakers and staff. We provide each other encouragement, accountability, laughter, courage and inspiration in this journey of following Jesus with all our hearts.
I’ve written two marriage books, What a Husband Needs from His Wife, and What a Wife Needs from Her Husband (due out January 2010). In both of these books I ask wives and husbands to examine their hearts to see if they’ve truly surrendered their marriages to God. Only when we’ve had a heart change will our lives really be transformed. And believe me – I needed a heart-change!
I don’t think of myself as a likely person to write marriage books because Scott and I have had – and still have– many challenges in our marriage. But what I do offer is honesty, biblical truths, practical ideas and real-life victories as Scott and I have surrendered our marriage to God. My favorite part of each book is the Bible study at the end. I’d love for you to visit my blog, Melaniechitwood.com where I share bits of everyday life and marriage tips on Marriage Mondays.
Now, for our interview:
Melanie, how do you intentionally focus on Christ in the midst of all the flurry of activities that happen in December?
We are just getting in to the thick of basketball season for both sons and Scott is getting super busy with basketball leagues at our business, so we are going here, there, and everywhere. I’ve realized at the Christmas season that we need to be really purposeful about what we say “yes” and “no” to. We’ve realized that for us it’s okay not to go to every event, and that we don’t have to incorporate every single tradition each year.
We ask each person in the family what’s important to them at Christmas time. The boys like to be home on Christmas morning, so that means if we travel, we’ll do that before or after Christmas day. I love reading portions of the Christmas story from the Bible several days a week leading up to Christmas day. As far as traditions, I love a live Christmas tree and going to Christmas Eve service, and Scott… well this year, as a new business owner, Scott just hopes to get some extra sleep! So we really just keep it simple.
What is your most treasured Christmas memory from your days growing up?
My mom and granny, who spent every Christmas with us, made Christmas a magical and fun time. Stockings were always a favorite part of our Christmas mornings. Everyone’s stockings would be completely stuffed with silly and special items. Granny tucked money into the toe of the stocking. Mom always found something funny to include, such as an embarrassingly awkward photograph or she’d write out a funny memory. Stockings are one tradition that I’ve carried over to my own family.
And what Christmas has been your most memorable one as an adult?
Two Christmases stand out. The first one I was in my twenties. One year toward the end of her life, my granny had to be in the hospital on Christmas day. We didn’t want Granny to be alone on Christmas, but we all wanted to be a part of the Christmas morning fun. I volunteered to be with her at the hospital that day. I got up really early, drove about an hour away to the hospital, and I was sitting right by her side when she opened her eyes that morning. I still treasure her sweet smile when she first saw me. While I was growing up, Granny was a place of safety, security and peace. So really, what I thought would feel like a sacrifice, turned out to be a gift to me. It felt so good to do something for this special person who had loved me unconditionally all my life.
The other memorable Christmas was last year. Our business was about to open in January, and we had been crazy busy the previous year preparing for it. The only Christmas decoration we put up was our tree. Christmas morning we opened gifts – and we really kept that simple. Then we went to see the movie Marley and Me, where Scott and I made spectacles of ourselves sobbing because we have two labs and we probably just needed a cathartic release because of all the stress that year. After that we went to Carolina Courts. Scott and I painted the baseboards and the boys shot hoops. We were all completely happy just being together.
You are offering a great giveaway today to one of our cyber sisters. Can you tell us about it?
I’m giving away a $20 Target gift card because just about all a girl really needs can be found at Target. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the chat, Melanie!
Okay gals, here is the scoop…..leave a comment answering this simple question: Since Melanie mentioned that her granny made Christmas extra special for her, is there anyone in your life who created fond holiday memories for you in your past? Let us know! Or, again, if you are busy, (you know, rushing off to the Christmas pageant or attempting to hit a store sale before they run out of an advertised item), just declare, “I’m in!” You’ll be entered!
And, don’t forget to hop on this site over the weekend. Days 6 and 7 will take place on Saturday and Sunday. More gals to meet and gifts to win!!! Happy weekend everyone!
Golden-moment Blessings.
Lots of people have made Christmas special. Since in another post on another topic, I mentioned my grandmother…this time, I’ll mention my dad, who fashioned a Cabbage Patch with braces on her teeth because that is what I really wanted…even though they didn’t make one. He even put it back in the box…I didn’t know about his altering until much later.
I’m in! Love your devotions, they bless me.
I’m in
My parents always worked hard to give us a good Christmas. We never had much money so gifts were few, but the fun and laughter always abounded!!
I too was close to my grandmother and have fond memories of times spent with her and spending the holidays with all our extended family at her house.
I’m in
My grandmother died suddenly of heart failure this week and we had the funeral yesterday. She was 95 – almost 96 – and never lost any of her mental capacity. It was such a blessing to have her that long especially since she was in relatively good health and could get around and do almost everything for herself. I have many Christmas memories of her of course but I will always remember her coming into our home and saying “WhooHoo” on Christmas morning to announce that she was there. My sisters and brother and I say “WhooHoo” when we go into each other’s homes and smile and know who started it all.
I’m in. Great getting to know a little about Melanie!
My Gramma Louise always made Christmas special. She was a server and loved making people feel special. This will be my first Christmas without her in my 33 years of life, because she passed away in March. She would decorate to the hilt, bake everyone’s favorites and dote on each of us. She was so full of love and will be missed this year.
My brother always made Christmas special. He is older than me and slightly mentally retarded. Every Christmas morning I could count on him to wake up early with me and sneak downstairs to where our stockings hung. Even now that he’s past 50, I still see the sparkle in his eyes at Christmas time.
My Mom always made sure that we were able to make special Christmas cookies. We decorated them with different colored frostings, cinnamon hearts and little candies. We had so much fun doing the cookies together and then eating them! Memories…
there were lots of special people in my life and great Christmas memories. Gramma and Grampa would come to our house, we would have dinner then go to 6:00 church. THen back to our house to open presents. It was fun to be with them, the years they had to go to our cousins were lonely. Gramma also made the best cookies and fudge.
Merry Christmas, I love Target, and also want to check out your books, and mariage Monday.
Thanks you again for helping me treasure what’s so special about this season. My grandma was a huge inspiration in my life. Probably the sweetest and most joyful person I have even known, and truly one who loved her sweet Savior. After spending Christmas Eve with Dad’s family, early Christmas morning with my family and brunch with my mom’s family, we’d head over to the “Family” home where my grandma grew up. We’d hear the Christmas story and sing carols. “Santa” would arrive on his way back to the North Pole with one last gift for the kids and a few of the adults, too. Lots of laughter and great memories.
My grandma made Christmas special for me and my sisters. My dad often tells me how when my sisters and I were growing up we didn’t have much money so my grandma would by our Christmas gifts that were givn to us. I remember cutting out and baking sugar cookies with her. She’s 83 although I cant tell and I feel blessed to still have her around. Since I’m not working at the moment prayerfully I’ll get to go see her in a couple of weeks.
Hi Ladies – this is melanie. Just want to say thank you to Karen, for hosting, and thank you ladies for stopping by. I’m having so much fun reading your memeories!
The last 10 years I have spent Christmas with my in-laws. My father-in-law has made Christmas very memorable for me. He always makes a love gift each year for some one in the family. One year he handcrafted a new podium for my classroom. I always think of him when I teach. He also always wears the same green-checked shirt and red sweater vest each year. It is so fun to see him spread his love for Christmas to the whole family!
I don’t have one person – it’s two: my parents. Each Christmas eve we’d get all dressed up, go to the Christmas eve service at church, and then come home to heavy snacks and cookies. If we knew of anyone without a place to go, we’d invite them over, too. We’d tear the bread for the stuffing together, and Dad would clean the turkey (he’d usually stick his hand in there and make it do a dance at some point). Then we’d all chop fruit for fruit salad and get our Christmas PJs on. We’d snuggle up with Dad and he’d read a book about a little lost angel to us, and they’d send us off to bed. Christmas day with its presents and a full house was always fun, but I think this was my favorite part. I’m now married with two children of my own, and we still do most of this now.
my mother always lite a candle on christmas eve, to light the way for the christ child. even to this day i light a candle and have a quite pray time of what has pass and my hopes of the next year. growth in the lord!
I’m in.
Thank you and nice to get to know you Melanie.
My mom used to host a Christmas party each year on Christmas eve for all of her family and friends. She loved to cook and entertained. Sometimes, we would see people that we only connected with at that party on Christmas eve.
I’m in!
We used to go to my Gran’s house each year when I was young. In the middle of Christmas dinner, someone would ask for the rolls to be passed. Gran would shout, “Oh!” and jump from her chair, running to the kitchen. She always forget the rolls in the oven, and they always burned. Inevitably, it happened every year. We all tried different ways to help remind her, but in the chaos and excitement of the day we were always distracted….until we were eating of course. She passed many years ago now, but I’d sure love one of Gran’s burnt rolls again!
Wow!!!! This post today just brought a flood of memories rushing back. I didn’t have one particular person that made Christmas special. But I have OH so many memories from both sets of grandparents and my parents.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
Look forward to your books. My husband and I need them now more than ever.
Love Targets too
I’m in.