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Day 5 of 12 Days of Christmas! (with Nicki Koziarz)

*If you are reading this post in your email inbox, be sure to navigate to my blog order to leave your comment and be entered to win the giveaway. To do so, click here.

NOTE: The best way to make sure you don’t miss any of the 12 days of giveaways is to subscribe to my blog so new posts are sent to your email inbox. When you do, you will automatically be sent a PDF resource I wrote called 5 Ways to Tether Your Heart to God’s Word. Click here to subscribe.

It’s Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways! If you’re just joining in, be sure to start at Day 1 by clicking here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although all you need to do to enter is comment here, I will also be snooping around on social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, looking for people who are promoting the giveaway by sharing an image along with the hashtag #12daysofchristmasgiveaways When you do so, you will be entered a second time for the giveaway that day!

Additionally, there is a grand prize for one person who comments on all 12 days, so set a daily alarm on your phone phone for now until December 18th and join the fun!

This year our Grand Prize is worth over $225!! It includes:

Day 5: The Most Thoughtful Gift Ever

For day five, our guest is my close friend and Proverbs 31 Ministries partner Nicki Koziarz. Nicki is a wife, mom, best-selling author, and speaker. Her family resides at a small farm just outside of Charlotte, NC they affectionately call The Fixer Upper Farm. She is also one of the first people I text when I need to process a life situation or want to celebrate something.

And now…here is Nicki!

The year my mom died was one of the hardest Christmases I’d ever had. 
I remember tears flooding my eyes as my dad pulled up to our farmhouse on Christmas morning, alone. They had always joined us for breakfast, prayer and then watched our three daughters dig into their gifts under the tree. As his car door closed and he walked towards the steps of our house, alone, the ache of this new reality hit hard. 


It had only been six weeks since she died, how would we get through this? 
But my husband had something planned. Something he knew wouldn’t take the ache of her being gone away, but would remind me of the hope to come.
After the breakfast dishes were cleaned up, we sat in our living room feeling the emptiness of her not being there. The girls tried to have as much joy and excitement as possible as they opened all their gifts but we all felt her absence. 


And then my husband, Kris, handed me one oddly shaped gift. It looked like pieces of paper. I had no idea what it was and thought it was strange. But as soon as I unfolded the paper, my heart fluttered. It was a printed picture of two baby girl highland cows. 


We had talked about getting cows for our farm but because of my mom’s long and hard passing from a brain tumor, like most other things, we had put this little dream on hold. I wasn’t sure when we would ever pick it back up because looking forward felt hard after such a hard season.


But that Christmas day, the dream came back and the reality of our fixer upper farm turning back into an actual farm became a reality as he told me, those were mine. I cried. But this time, it wasn’t tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. Because this dream that had felt so far from becoming a reality, the rebuilding of our farm, was a little closer to coming true.


Today, when I look at Autumn and Paisley, those two baby highlands now turned into full grown cows, I’m still grateful for that gift. Because it was one that brought joy and hope for the future after a season of so much loss.


It’s been a hard year for most of us. But today, through this Christmas series Karen Ehman is offering us may we also find a little more joy and a lot more hope. The future is still full of dreams yet to be fulfilled.

Now, for today’s quick question of the day: What is the most thoughtful gift or gesture you have ever been given or that you have ever heard of?

Day 5 Giveaway

For day five, Nicki is giving away a $50 Anthropologie gift card. You can use it to buy clothing, accessories, home and furniture items, or beauty and wellness products.

Be sure to answer today’s question in the comments below!

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Nicki Koziarz is a wife, mom, speaker and two-time best-selling author with Proverbs 31 Ministries. She and her husband own a small farm just outside of Charlotte, NC they affectionately call The Fixer Upper Farm. Nicki’s new book and study guide, Flooded, releases March 2021 and is available on Amazon for preorder now. 

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Day 5 Giveaway Question

NOTE: Affiliate links may be included. We only recommend products we know our readers will love!

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAYS RULES

  1. U.S. Addresses only please.
  2. You can comment on all 12 days (once per person) up until midnight Pacific time, Sunday, December 20. Each day will be linked below for easy reference.
  3. One daily winner will be chosen from each day’s comments.
  4. To enter to win the Grand Prize (worth over $225 and includes: A leader kit of my What Matters Most Lifeway study of Philippians, including the teaching DVD’s and one Bible study guide; a Wheatfield Woman ESV journaling Bible from Wheat and Honey Co.; a pink cable knit throw (other color options available); a pour-over coffee dripper ; a half pound of Fortress coffee, a company started by two fellow alumni from Spring Arbor University; an insulated pink shimmer mug–or color of your choice), comment on and share all 12 posts. You can use the share buttons below or repost and share on Instagram (my fave!) and tag me @karenehman.
  5. All winners (including Grand Prize) will be announced here on the blog on Monday, December 21, and contacted via email. Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your prizes.

Day 1 with Shannon Acheson

Day 2 with Amber Smith

Day 3 with Bella Schwenk

Day 4 with Andrea Brouwer

Day 6 with Alexis Joseph

Day 7 with Kia Stephens

Day 8 with Chrystal Evans Hurst


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268 Comments

  1. A handmade doll that my mom spent hours hand-stitching for my baby girl. She hadn’t made anything like it before but wanted to create something special for her granddaughter with love.

  2. This question made me think. But I think anytime someone invests time into making me a gift verses just purchasing something to give a gift. I love handmade.

  3. In 2009 I found Proverbs 31 and I read a blog (I don’t remember who’s blog it was but it was from someone at P31) about someone giving someone else the gift of a year of prayers. I liked the idea so much that I did that for several people in 2010. I sent them an email and told them what I would be doing for them and they emailed me with things to pray about.

  4. I was given a family heirloom lamp, which I had loved. For years. It was special because I really dont get any gifts for christmas. If I do get something under th tree , usually I’m the one who put it there. So when someone thinks of me, and gives me something special, I’m truly honored and humbled.

  5. I can’t really think of a gift that was really a special gift unless you can count the year I got married. I wanted to get married on Christmas day like my grandparents did, but family said that no one would go. So I ended up getting married 7 days before Christmas. My husband has always been one of my greatest gifts from God. 27th Anniversary will be December 18th.

  6. One Christmas in college, I got a letter from a friend instead of a Christmas card. It was full of encouragement and specific ways that she was praying for me and hoping I would grow. Knowing someone has thought about me that much and prayed so hard for me was such a blessing.

  7. My husband and I struggled to have children and were unable to have a family for many years. We then were able to adopt 2 boys! At Christmas, my husband gave me a string of pearls. Our children are my pearls but the string of pearls reminds me how precious they are and how precious the gift of family is.

  8. I’m a huge fan of family pictures. At the passing of my grandfather, I was able to gift my mom an entire album filled with memories of him. It is still one of her most cherished items.

  9. My sister-in-law decided this year to gift everyone a cooked meal with fresh baked cookies. I love eating and I love that I didn’t have to cook it! So it was a wonderful treat to receive.

  10. I’ve received and know of so many thoughtful gifts and gestures over the years, but the only one I keep thinking of is the gift of the baby Jesus!

  11. A college friend bought me groceries when I was between checks and needed some help. It has always helped me see God is there hearing our cries for help.

  12. At my aunt’s funeral several years ago 3 of the deacon’s wives from our church drove 3 1/2 hours one way to be at the funeral. We had only been members of this particular church for 4 months. I had no idea they were coming. But looking up
    And seeing them there was so amazing. It still means so much to me all these years later.

  13. My favorite gifts are the ones that are simple and homemade. My grandmother gave me sweaters, pajamas and dolls. My kids have given me cards, pictures, ornaments, and trats Those items are so precious.

  14. It wasn’t for Christmas but happened during December. The year that my daughter was born was my hardest one teaching – I wanted to be home with her very badly but had been moved to a new grade level and was working longer hours than ever. I wanted time with my little family more than anything, and in the middle of December my husband arranged to borrow a restored Civil War-era cabin on a friend’s farm. He packed everything we needed, kept the fireplace going, and prepared all of our food. We spent the weekend in front of the fire, playing games together and napping. It was wonderful!

  15. My most treasured gifts are the ones that were handmade from my children and now from my grandchildren. The things that can’t be bought in stores but that come from the heart!

  16. Any kind of random act where you can bless others, that’s a true gift. My sister gave me an OLAD journal for Christmas and I really loved it an thought it was very thoughtful. I have 3 pages left. Perfect.

  17. One Christmas we were so strapped financially bc of a season of unemployment. We had two young children and very little resources to buy groceries let alone gifts for our children. One day my fathers pickup pulled in the driveway bad in it were groceries to fill our cupboards and refrigerator. Plus gifts galore. My heart leaped for joy. This will be my first year not having any parents to be with us. I lots my father this year and he will spend Christmas with mom and Jesus.

  18. I think it is so selfless that there are people that volunteer to work on Christmas Day so that others with family at home can have the day off to spend the time with the family. Those people often go unnoticed.

  19. Raising 5 children as a single parent had its struggles especially during Christmas. A lovely family at our church ‘adopted’ me and my children one year. We arrived back at our tiny 2 bedroom apartment after church the previous Sunday to a room filled with so many gifts, it was unimaginable. They bought 4-5 gifts for every child including me. I shed so many tears that day, tears of joy and peace, tears of miraculous healing , and tears of hope for a bright future.
    I’m holding on to that memory and that HOPE right now!

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