I
o say
Mo t of ould like to
give people we love the per
fect ,ift - one that ow we
truly care. Yet too often, we
imply rush to get the tas
done.
But take beart. Here are
ome tip that ill make gift
iving a joy for you and the
recipient:
1. Ma e lure the gift has
special meaning for the
recipient. As you consider
gift po sibilitie • a k your-
elf what is important to the
re ci p ie nt , Acknowledging
and ccepung wh t another
person value can be gift in
itself. .
One hu b nd gave hi wife
large wooden dollhouse for
their 18th wedding anniver
ary. He'd heard his wife talk
often about the dollhou e
8yM
Nicolas Shares The True
Mellnin, of Christmas: For
the top gospel duct, Nicolas
(composed 'of the hu band
and wife team=-Brende and
Phil Nicolas), the holiday
arc more than a time for
family and sharing. but
Christma i al 0 a time of
giving to the hungry and
needy through a program im
plemented through their
church .•
"What we do." Phil say,
"is that each (amily 'in the
c h u r c h fee 'd s a ram i I Y 0 r
gives a present to omebody
in th community. Our mini
, ter gets a list of needy
people and he has each fami
ly or need placed on an in
dividual card. and he hands
out the cards right around the
Iirst eek in December.
It might say. Iamily of four
needs food, and the family
that icts that card � ill ad
dress the need. Becau e a
our minister point out it's
not our hi rthda ys, but Je u '
b i r thd ay. and e can give
Christ a gift by helping tho e
lc 'fortunate,
Giving hack what Christ
has 'I en U' 0 freely."
Chi trnas is even more pe
cial for the pair, who have
had a great deal of succe
with .ihe ir go 'pel balladsva
it is the time vhen Phil a ked
Brenda', h nd in marriage .•
Crisis I n The Cuth olic
Church : A the m mher hip
ot the Catholic Church con
tinue,' to grow, the numbers
of pri us continue to drop
harply, a. it ha become h r
der and harder to recruit
youn er men into the prie t-
ho d, nd man mong it'
youthful ran 0 prie t quit.
The , t ti tic reveal tha t
over the la t 30 year ,the
numb r 0 tho e training to
become prie t have dropped
9 , according to the U,S.
Catholic Conference. One of
the major contributor to the
she'd always wanted a a
child but had never receivec.
His wife called the dollho e
the "mo t sen itive gift she
h d ever received."
2. Be alert for a lift that
the recipient may want
without realizing it. The key
to gift-giving i to pay atten
tion through the year to
casual comments. Jot down
gift ideas that come out of
conver alion with family
member or fri nd .
SOMETIMES YOU MAY
know more about a person's
real need than he or he
does. One high chool
gr du te received a Dale Car
negie Course from his da�.
("Can you imagine how un
derwhelmed 1 was. 1 wanted a
c r!") But th t course. the
GOSPEL
decline is the church's
celibacy requirement.
Fact i s , mo t other
religiou sect point to a
steady rise in eminary en
rollment. However, the
Vatican is holding f st to the
celibacy rule. To make up for
the hortagcs, the 'church has
been forced to make due with
lay pastor -mosdy nuns-in
some areas. Even with this,
there i no move me nt mward
the ordination of � omen.
In. tead the�y have resorted
to ncar ecular recruitment
practiccs,- everything from
Madi on Avenue recruitment
tactic to direct mail cam
paigns, in their que t for a
few good men.
Briefly: The Winans were
voted the top he st gospel
group (for their current
album. IJRclurn") at the
recently-held Brd Annual
NAACP Image Award', held
recently i n, Los Angeles.
Go pel legend Rev. James
Cleveland. who i . till in fail
ing health. received a Special
Image Award.
Lawyer for PTL founder
Jim Bakker, who i currently
'erving out his pri 'on' en
renee. are nov argui ng that
he ho uld have rc c ivcd at
horter entence in accord
ance ith federal sentencing
guidel i ne for cri me com
mi ted after ov. 1. t 987. 0
word yet on \ hether or not
this ar umcru \ ill prove _ef
fective In hortening his
pre c n t ·cntence. In the
meantime. hi cellmate is
none other than politician
Lyndon La Rouchc, \! ho was
found guilty of tax fraud.
Thi e ek ' c ripture :
"For the word of God i
living and active. Sharper
than an) double-edged
word, it penetrate e en to
div idin oul and plrit ,
joints and marro ; it jud es
the thou ht and attitude of
the heart, "-Hebrew 4: 12.
son i no convinced. gave
him the skill, be needed to
become a profe ion I
spe ker. .
3. Offer your time or
talent. A gift thlt shines with
your individual effort will be
appreciated in way the most
.expensive jewel never can
m tch.
One woman organized her
mother' 100 e photo and
labeled and pa ted everyone
into an lbum for her
mother's 65th birthday.
Another wom n gave her
tepmother, with whom she
h d a omewhat strained
relation hip a teen-ager, a
book of certificate for such
thing as a wee, • . grocery
shopping. ironing and. break
fa t in bed. "They were
things she could do for me to
mak up for the years whe
we id not hav mother
dlug ter relatio hip," the
tep other expla ned.
4. Be on lim . Old and
youn people ali need to be
rem mbered 0 time for
birt days and pecial an
nive sarie. E en when
you' e pre sed or time, it
takes ju t a quic phone call
to arrange a pee I dinner at
a favorite re t
order something
order catalog th t promise
over ight deliver .
keeping a boo of ice cream.
coupons lit work.
One m n likes to surpri e
hi wif at work with
delivery 0 a single rose a an
"I love yo " gesture.
A spon aneous gift that ac
knowledg sand encour ge a
new stag in sorneone ' life
can be ve y re ssuring. One
wqman, fullti me mother,
took up painting. Soon he
wa invited to particip te in a
local art show. An
anonymou buyer took one of
her works. Two months later,
she sa the painting h nging
in her husband's office. He
. had purc�a ed it to encourage
her.
Even a imple gift can be
profound.
CO CERT TO BE E IT MICHl
'r ndr i er wa held recently to be
Every
season
Continued rro P e 5
ding the fabric of our com
munity through poverty, un
employment, I ck quality
education, mid-education,
inadequate housing, poor
health c re , drug, ten
sion/conflict, fratricide and
premature death.
Afric n Amcric n are
not inherently violent.
Our youn people re
turning to violence bee use
Afric n Americans are
being violated by a violent,
ociety. Poverty i violence.
Hunger is violence. Jobless
ness is violence. Ignorance
is violence. Neg le ct and
abuse is violence. Racism
and di crimination is
violence. African
Americans are not inherent
ly criminals.
African Americans arc
'being warehoused in prisons
because we live in 8_
open eason of oppression
which afflicts the m scs f
our people and think bout
strategic nd acti ns to
m k e our people vho le
again.
Ron Daniels serv s as
President of the Instiu te for
Community Organiz lion
7(1
• Cooling
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• Tastes Great