5th Day of Christmas Giveaway with Melissa Taylor

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Welcome to the 5th Day of Christmas Giveaway!!

Each day, December 1-12th, I am featuring a fellow Proverbs 31 sister and an aspect of Christmas. You’ll get to know her and she, in turn, will offer a fabulous giveaway! Simply leave a comment on her post to be entered in the drawing.

And, one soon-to-be-very-giddy gal who comments on all 12 posts will win the GRAND PRIZEYou may comment on all posts until Monday, December 13th when the winners will be announced. (to see the grand prize and get caught up on the posts click here)

Now, here’s our fifth P31 gal……the sweet Melissa Taylor!!!

Hi! I’m so excited to be a part of Karen’s 12 Days of Christmas.  My name is Melissa Taylor. I have been on the Speaker Team at Proverbs 31 Ministries for six years. I also work in the P31 office full time as admin assistant, prayer coordinator, and part time radio assistant. I’ve been married for 21 years and have 4 great kids!

We moved a lot during my early childhood. Before the age of 9, I had spent Christmas in Taylors SC, Memphis TN, Winter Park FL, Albany GA, Greenville SC, and Charlotte NC. Moving around so much was difficult because life was always changing. There were some things however that remained constant.

One of those was my very favorite Christmas tradition. My favorite tradition is one that most families do during the holidays. And it’s one that has provided me with more than just a good time. It represents love, life, family, memories, and it’s something I’ve always been able to count on year after year. Growing up and still today, my favorite tradition is decorating the Christmas tree.

Our Christmas tree was never one that most would consider beautifully decorated. I know in many homes I’ve been in, the tree is amazing. Every ornament strategically placed, every light coordinated to compliment the decor, ribbons and flowers and ting ting spruced throughout looking as if Martha Stewart herself had decorated it.

I have a friend who doesn’t allow her kids to touch her tree. That’s her thing. I know another family who places all the kids’ homemade ornaments on the back of the tree, only the perfect store bought matching ornaments in the front. All that is okay, but that’s not the way it was in my family.

My mom made decorating the tree a true family event. No matter where we lived or what was going on in “real life”, the tree decorating time was fun and memorable. Our ornaments were mostly homemade or purchased somewhere that held a special memory. Each ornament told a story and of course we retold those stories year after year. Life changed, but decorating the Christmas tree brought us back year after year to a place where we felt the love and comfort of home.

This tradition continues in my home today. Tree decorating time is our favorite. My kids love putting up the ornaments they claim as their own. With the Christmas music in the background, party mix and hot chocolate on the coffee table, we come together creating new memories with the same old tradition.

Since my childhood, there have been many more ornaments and memories added to our family tree from my own husband and kids. And this year will be extra bitterweet because we lost my sweet mom, it’s our first Christmas without her. Even though she will not physically be here, with many of the ornaments we hang, there will be a memory of mom and a story to be told. Her legacy will live on partially through decorating the tree.

Melissa’s Giveaway

As you read this, I am vacationing with my family in Walt Disney World. As an early Christmas gift, my inlaws have taken the whole Taylor family to the most magical place on earth. It’s one of my very favorite places because of the special memories I’ve had there during my lifetime with my family.

We will for sure purchase a Christmas ornament to mark the occasion. And so I will purchase 2, one for us and one for today’s lucky winner. If you win today, you will receive an ornament along with some hot chocolate and party mix.

If you have a special tradition or memory you’d like to share, we’d love to read about it. Just leave a comment and not only will you be sharing a special tradition, but you’ll also be entered to win today’s Christmas prize. If you don’t have a memory to share or the time today to share it, just tell us who your favorite Disney character is. :-)

Magical Blessings,




192 Comments

  1. we get an ornament each year for each child. my oldest is 23 so she has at least 23 on the tree now. when they get married or have their first tree of their own, they will get all their ornaments to take with them. we have lived around the world and have many lovely ornaments, this year we went to Mrytle beach and got news ones from the beach! Love having a tree full of memories.

  2. I purchased a PlayMobil nativity set for my son, divided up all the pieces and gave him one each day during the month of December.

  3. I love this, Melissa!
    My kids are all grown now and I miss them being here to help with decorating the tree. My very favorite ornaments are the ones that they made, or the ones with a picture of them on them, or even their name on them. My house was never picture perfect on Christmas. I wanted it to feel like home.

    Hope your celebration with your family will be very special this year.

    Love ya,
    Cheri

  4. A few years ago my daughter and I made a ‘Jesse tree’ Advent Calendar from playdough. We get it out every Advent, reading the scriptures from the reference written on the back of each ornament, then hanging each one on a tree of decorated twigs.

  5. I let my daughters decorate our tree all by themselves this year. They are ages 13 & 5. The ornaments may be crooked and all bunched up in some places, but that’s okay. It is a beautiful tree to us. One of our traditions is to take our girls & let them pick out an ornament each year to add to the tree. When they grow up, get married & have a tree of their own, I will give them all the ornaments they collected over the years for their very own tree. And when we travel, we also like to buy an ornament from wherever we visited. Thank you!

  6. I love Christmas Eve. There is always something just so magical about that night. The lights, the music, the family, the gifts, just the anticipation was so incredible. I try to recreate the feelings I had of my own Christmas Eve nights with my children now by driving to see the lights with popcorn, hot chocolate and Christmas cookies while we’re all in our jammies!! So if you are in Ohio and see a blue minivan full of jammy-clad kids and parents just wave and say Merry Christmas!!

  7. A favorite tradition would have to be the reading of Luke 2 and then the Little Match Girl.Husband’s father would read it, cry — then fuss because he was crying, which of course was endearing and funny to all the grandkids and kids. This year, Dad L. passed away and hubby will read…and cry…and laugh…and we will join him.

  8. We always decorated our tree to “Merry Christmas” by Johnny Mathis with Percy Faith and his Orchestra. I never realized how much I loved that until I got married. I remember that first Christmas. We had a little 2-foot tree and I had to go to Blockbuster to get a copy of “Merry Christmas” before we could decorate. I’m on about my third or fourth cd now, 16 years later! Fave Disney character is Piglet!

  9. Our favorite tradition is letting each of our 4 boys purchase a gift for one another and then a gift for mom and one for dad. Nothing expensive, but a gift from the heart. On Christmas Eve we exchange gifts with one another around the fire and Daddy reads the Christmas story. Our night ends with family prayer time and yummy snacks. This is my favorite time of the holidays.

  10. Getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve from my parents when I was a child so we could get our pictures taken on Christmas morning.

  11. We too collect ornaments while on vacation as a reminder of our family trips. I love putting them on the tree and remembering our times together.

  12. My favorite tradition is making
    Christmas cookies with my grandbabies. Each family gets their own time. It started 7 years ago, when my first grandchild was 1. The cookies tasted like dog biscuits, but Daddy and Grampie ate them.

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