Sweet Baby Gifts

"Now the department store in front of which they were standing had a beautiful Christmas display in the window which depicted the familiar scene of the baby Jesus and his mother in the manger. The shepherds were there; also the three wise men were there offering their gifts. And a glittering star hovered over the crib of the baby Jesus. Oh, it was really a lavish display and must have cost a lot of money. But at Christmastime, money is no object to Weinberg and Goldstein’s Department Store when they honor Jesus, the Messiah. [Tape has been edited here, to edit out laughter...although you can still hear a few muffled chuckles when the speaker resumes speaking].

[Continuing with transcript...] In fact, they are very much indebted to Jesus. The religious customs surrounding Christmas and Easter are responsible for their store making great profits. Yes, without them they might even go bankrupt. So they probably agree with their mechanical window display Santa, every time he gives out with a lusty, ‘Ho, Ho, Ho.’"

This is near the beginning of a public talk given by Jehovah’s Witness Bill Fisher, entitled, "What Would Jesus Say About Christmas?" It is available several places online, and this quote starts at approximately 5:36 on the tape.

Do you feel like it’s just a harmless jab, or is it a hurtful comment?

Christians, I would appreciate your comments as well. Would this be an example of the "foolish talking" or "jesting" mentioned in Ephesians 5:4?
Thanks for your impressions so far. It made me angry when I heard it; particularly with the sarcastic tone the speaker used. But I’m a critic, so I wanted to get some other opinions to be sure it wasn’t just me being overly critical.
Following is a link to one site where this talk can be found:

http://www.jwbrothers.org/play_audio.php?audio=882&/

They did a better job of editing this one than the copy I have, but I’m sure it can be located through google.
This question has nothing to do with whether or not it’s appropriate to celebrate a particular holiday.

It concerns whether or not it is appropriate for one group of people who advertise themselves as "Christian" to make tasteless jokes about another group of people who have been the brunt of ridicule and hatred enough already–a group of people who are beloved for the sake of their fathers from God’s standpoint. (Rom. 11)

I know jw salesman, and store owners who certainly take advantage of the Christmas season. In fact many of these jw business men or women send greeting cards with some kind of innocuous ’season’s greetings’ or happy holiday’s all to squeak by the injunction against celebrating Christmas.

I have not listened to this talk by Fisher, but I can almost guarantee he is either a Circuit or District Overseer….those guys are the lord and masters of their realms of 10-25 congregations of jw. So they are rarely confronted or questioned about anything they say.

Edit: I wonder if those shepherds that witnessed this event in Luke 2:
"Shepherds Hear About Jesus
8 That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep.9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened.10 The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people.11 Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord.12 This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box."
13 Then a very large group of angels from heaven joined the first angel, praising God and saying:
14 "Give glory to God in heaven,
and on earth let there be peace among the people who please God."[c]

Suppose they were made fun of for celebrating along with the angels of heaven??? I would guess many laughed and sneered at them as well.

It is a preposterous stand jw take on Christmas in light of the fact angels sang and celebrated, but the droll self righteous jw can’t even utter a word of song or praise to Christ birth.

From a pure biblical standpoint they have no leg to stand on. Just allot of hyperbola about nothing, pagan this, pagan that, heck half the stuff we do today has pagan origin, ask any jw if they wear wedding rings. Or display flowers gee it frustrating to deal with such blatant self righteousness

With our first baby, we had custom fortune cookies made and treated everyone to Chinese …when it came time for dessert, they cracked open the cookies and the fortune read "Surprise! Baby Miller is on its way!"

Now we need a NEW creative idea for baby #2 that will surprise them and knock their socks off - sorta speak! It’ll be around Christmas time so I’m not sure if we can work that in. My only idea so far is to wrap up an ultrasound picture as a holiday gift… hmm… any ideas would be great!

Spell it out on your house in Christmas lights, then invite everyone over.

Wrap a positive pregnancy test for your parents to open. I sent an email containing a photo of the positive test to my family to tell them.

Hang your Christmas tree with nothing but baby stuff (Baby ornaments, booties, pacifiers, etc).

Wrap a box of tampons for your mother and put in a note that says "I won’t be needing these for nine more months."

I am helping to host a baby shower for a friend’s wife who is from China. I understand that in China generally a party follows the birth of the baby, but she understands and is excited about participating in the American custom of a baby shower. I’m wondering if there are any Chinese customs or traditions (in terms of food, decorations, gifts, etc.) that we could incorporate.

"To scare away evil sprits, Chinese women may sleep with knives under their bed. Often a piece of paper cut to resemble a pair of scissors is hung from bed curtains and tiger skins are hung over the bed."
(Source: http://www.babyzone.com/babynames/china.asp)

How about incorporating something to do with scissors? Decorate with scissors cut from paper! Wrap silver pairs of scissors with a pretty ribbon and give them away as favors.

"To announce the baby’s birth, a new father sends money and wine to his in-laws. Special ribbons fastened to the wine jar signify if the baby is a boy or a girl. Parents send red eggs to close family and friends — an even number for a girl, odd for a boy. Or they may send out boxes of fruit. Return gifts might include two kinds of cake, brown sugar, millet, eggs, and walnut meats."
(Source: http://www.babyzone.com/babynames/china.asp)

Decorate with wine bottles wrapped with ribbon. Serve red eggs (simply hard boiled eggs dyed with red food coloring) and fruit.

"Everything runs along the Chinese calendar which holds the zodiac characters of rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, roaster, dog, pig."
(Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/221280/chinese_baby_traditions_things_to_consider.html)

This is the year of the rat. Decorate with small toy rats, and serve cheese as a "rat treat"!

"Should a new mom accept the beautiful silver clock from her boss at work? NO! Clocks are bad birthday gifts in Chinese tradition, because the word for clock sounds like the word for death."
(Source: http://www.thetasteofasia.com/new_baby.asp)

Remove clocks from the party area! Do not give the new mom any clocks or other timepieces! Other than that, have fun!

This is going to be long, so bear with me

Today was my cousin/good friend/bridesmaids baby shower that I was asked to help out with. I live a few hours away from her and her husband so we came down the night before and stayed at their house to help put together the party. She and her husband had to work so i babysat her other kid, baked and made a custom frosting for cupcakes, put together the party favors, and decorated. I came down a couple weeks ago to help her go price check and look around to pick out what she wanted to do to. My fiance came with me and is helping her husband remodel their baby and their daughter’s room.

She insisted on planning her own baby shower and got some of her husbands family pissed off because they wanted to give her a surprise party but she didnt think they would do it the way she wanted. Then she complained about having so much stress trying to plan the party and asked me for help. Since she is a bridesmaid in the wedding I was really excited to help. I spent hourse designing games on my computer with cool borders and graphics only for her to turn to me and say she thought it was too hard and that if only i had made them matching, instead of fill in the blanks we could use it. I came to discover all she wanted was reassurence that her ideas were awesome, not real help.

She facebooked offensive stuff and pissed off her sister in law so bad, her , her girlfriend, and her daughter not only stopped planning the surprise party but refused to come to shower.

The shower came today and it was so small! Because she did things her way, we played four games that lasted 15 minutes, and they were all stupid. Shes like 33 and so all the guests were older and they kept rolling their eyes at how dumb the games were and all she kept bragging about is how much i helped her. We basically spent four hours watching the food network and talking.. what a fun baby shower.

She didnt want to listen to any ideas for food and spent money on sandwich items people only picked at, and bought grocery store pasta salad that made every sick.. but she bragged about how yummy it was!
Now after everything is done and over with (were still at her house, my fiance is helping to finish the baby room) she is bitching and screaming at her busband about how cheap his disabled eldery mother is and how she only gave $30 gift card. She is pissed because no one bought anything off her registry. People brought her things she needed, clothes, diapers ect. This is her second child and first boy so she felt that entitled her to a full shower. She has been crying all night because the one thing she really want ( a $160 crib set with this particular aquatic theme) she didnt get. It HAS to be from baby’s r us, it HAS to be this exact set, and it will RUIN the whole room if she doesnt get it. My fiance just lost his job so all we could afford was 4 onesies, 2 pairs of pants and a package of diapers. I feel so awful because I couldnt do more but as it is my mom and I had to go in on the gift together.
Her own husband (who is the one i am related to and is also in the wedding) said he wouldnt pay that much for a crib set. He had no idea what she put on there and says she is being ridiculous.

To make up for my lack of present, I have been on the computer for hours trying to find a cheaper crib set or one similar. I found one brand new on craigslist that is very similar, but was originally $300 and only costs $40 and she doesnt want it because it doesnt have the EXACT same design on it. The one she wants has bubbles and this one doesnt. I found her the one she wants for $50 cheaper and doesnt want to get it because its not from babies r us.
She wont use her daughter’s crib set even though it is not a gender specific set because it doesnt match the new theme she wants.
She just flipped out and said her husbands family hates and her and have something against her and just want to piss her off thats why they didnt come and buy her this expensive set. His mother lives alone, is disabled, widowed, and on a fixed income and this baby is like her 20th grand child. and she says who cares its a baby she can afford it. Her own mother only spent a few bucks and her dad didnt even come!!

I feel soooo bad I wanted to do more , but it just wasnt possible. I am starting to feel like it was a mistake asking her to be a bridesmaid. She already refuses to wear any of the styles of dresses I like and after seeing her behavior with this baby shower I am scared for my wedding.
Am I being ridiculous?

Nothing I saw calms her down and any advice I give her goes in one ear and out the other. I care about her but the more she goes on about how she got such crappy gifts and how cheap everyone is the worse I feel. If the grandma’s $30 gift card was crappy to her, my measly $25 gift was terrible.
How would You be feeling?

Are YOU acting like a big jerk? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Is SHE???? ABSOLUTELY, 100% YES YES YES!!! Yes, it’s probably hormones, yes, pregnancy is hard, but that still doesn’t give her the right to act the way she’s acting, and being all upset because she didn’t get particular crib sets. Since this is her 2nd baby, people don’t give as much stuff, since they figure you have stuff from baby #1. Yes, even if baby #1 is a girl, and baby #2 is a boy. That happened to me, I probably got 3 times as much stuff when my daughter was born than when my son was born. And most of the stuff I got when he was born was boy clothes and diapers and stuff. I didn’t even have a shower when he was born, so she ought to be grateful people were willing to show up when she did the rudest thing of all…throw herself a shower!!!

As far as her being your bridesmaid, I guess it would depend on when the baby is due in relation to your wedding. Will she still be pregnant at the wedding, or will she have just given birth and have a newborn? Maybe you need to give her an out here. Say something like "I know you’re going to be busy with the baby/not feeling well since your pregnant/etc. and was wondering if you’re still up to being in the wedding. Please don’t feel you have to do it still, I completely understand if you’ve changed your mind."

She needs to grow up, and be thankful you did everything you did for her, as well as give her a gift.

I’d think twice before helping her out again. Good luck!

My sister is "hosting" the shower, but since she’s not in the best economical situation at the moment [surprise IRS bill--go figure] I’m in the position that, if I want to have the shower go according to the original plan, I’ve got to foot the bill for the food, the game prizes and game supplies, the plastic plates/flatware, and the party favors. I’m a very thrifty spender, so it’s not as if I’m spending hundreds of dollars on these things, but it still bothers me that no one else attending has offered to contribute [with the exception of providing baby gifts].
I’m also making the food/desserts. I purchased the custom invitations [less than $15 w/ a coupon I had] and sought out the venue.

My sister’s friend was supposed to have provided game ideas/supplies, but is now not going to because of a recent financial "crisis," which wouldn’t necessarily preclude her actually helping me with planning these things–she just copped-out of the obligation.

Now, I don’t want to seem like a spoiled brat about this, because I understand my sister’s situation and I don’t really mind helping some financially, but this has gotten out of hand totally. I don’t have that many people who are supportive [no close relatives, orphaned, etc.] so it was left up to her…
I feel badly for being so bloody annoyed–should I?
You’re right, Cav. It is about the baby, and I am receiving gifts for her. Thanks for putting it into better perspective.
I hope I’m forgiven, though, if I still feel a little overwhelmed.

If that is the case(that really does suck). I would opt for a cheap shower. Don’t go fancy. Go simple. So you can save as much money as possible for your baby. Just have a dessert shower. Cake/punch. Simple games that you can print off the computer. Get prizes at the dollar store etc.

My friend is 30 years old and just got pregnant for the first time. She has been wanting to be a mother for some time now and she was married last year and it finally has happened. Although she is only 1 month along she is already ordering custom baby shower invites, noting that she is registered at 2 stores but "cash" would be the preferred gift option. I have only known her for about a year but it seems to me that this is a bit tacky. She also seems to be caught up in the value of an item based on how "expensive" it was. If she knows something she received was from a chic little baby store she squeals with delight, if it was something from a chain store she just says…oh. I am aprehensive to think what her shower will be like if she reacts that way in front of guests. Yikes. I know this is delicate…don’t even know if I can bring it up with her.

it is beyond rude and not acceptable.

if I ever got an invitaion from someone and it read that, I would either not go.. if I did.. they would get a gift I knew they needed or a gift card. you dont ask for money.. it shows little class, little manners, and little dignity.

Also with something like that.. it will be remembered forever that this person asked for money. it is one of those acts that people just dont forget and you will be remembered in a negative way that you did this, and that quite frankly is embarrassing.

just my opinion..

Of other religions or of any religions? In some places their customs usually dictate what their beliefs will be, and customs are a peoples identity. How does a God distribute his gift of life among the babies born right this very second, into all those worldly households of various beliefs, knowing that only one of those beliefs will do them any good? In all fairness, how can that be fair?

Nobody can dictate what you believe.

Matthew 6:5-6
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

We’re having a baby in September and thinking about starting to stock up on baby things! I’m not sure who exactly in our family and friends is planning to buy things for us yet (if any of them lol)!!

We already have quite a few things left over from when my son was a baby (albeit many are the wrong colour now as we’re having a girl!!!) and I’ve managed to get together quite a few little things so I don’t especially need things like babygros, little outfits, cuddly toys etc (which is pretty much all we got given last time!!!) I have way too many cuddly toys as it is and really don’t want anymore of them!!!

I’ve made a list of things we do need - its mainly things like bedding, a change mat, a baby bath, muslin squares, a playgym and so forth and also a few smaller bits and pieces for the nursery.

Would it be rude to make a "wish list" so that people could see what we actually need if they want to buy us a gift? And if its not considered totally socially unacceptable to do so is there anywhere online you can do it and send the link to people so they can select something from the list?

We’re not having a "baby shower" - its not really the custom where I live and also a lot of family and friends live too far away to attend anyway, so I’m thinking more of just the usual little presents people tend to turn up with when they come to see the baby for the first time!

no, it makes sense
people make wedding lists
so i don’t see whats wrong with it
it makes sense, so people don’t buy you the same things.

I am writing a research paper on the country Armenia. My thesis is: Armenia is a country with a unique culture and life ways, but can still be compared to that of the United States.

Here’s my essay so far:

Armenia is a country with a unique culture and life ways, but can still be compared to that of the United States.
Armenia is a federal republic government with its official name as the Republic of Armenia. It is located in southwestern Asia with Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Iran to the south, and Turkey to the west. The basic unit of Armenian money is the dram. One U.S. dollar equals just under 550 drams. The capital and most populated city is Yerevan, but there are 27 cities, 31 towns, and 921 villages as well. As of 2009, there were 3.1 million people living in Armenia. Armenia is one of the earliest Christian civilizations with its first churches founded in the fourth century. Ninety four percent of the population belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church, with the other six percent being Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Islamic. The average life expectancy of men is seventy years and the expectancy of women is seventy seven years.
Armenian customs and traditions are very distinctive and unique to their country. Weddings are not only important cultural events, but big holidays and excuses for elaborate parties. Many blessings and expensive gifts like jewelry and fabrics are given to the bride. Traditionally, Armenians have many children. A birth of a child is a happy event that is always welcome. For forty days after a baby’s birth, the child is not shown to anybody besides close family and relatives. Armenians are extremely hospitable, and whenever there is a guest, eating and drinking is a must. Today, Armenians wear ordinary clothes such as t-shirts, jeans, and tennis shoes, but traditional clothing for festivals and church celebrations.
Armenia is a country with a 1600 year old history of literacy. The education of Armenians has always been highly valued. Ninety-nine percent of them are able to read and write. Armenia’s first universities were founded in the tenth through the thirteenth centuries. Schools that include business, agriculture, and architecture require students to pass very difficult tests. Children attend school between the ages of six and sixteen and study science, math, history, economics, and social studies. The Armenian education system is very unique, but just like students in the United States, Armenians first attend primary school, and then high school. However, in the United States, most graduate high school at the age of seventeen or eighteen and go on to college; unlike Armenians who finish school at sixteen.
Armenian cuisine is a combination of various tastes and aromas, and like anywhere, the best food in Armenia is all homemade. Various spices, fruits, vegetables, and fish combine to make unique dishes. Even though their food served is mostly grilled meat, fruit, and vegetables, many desserts are also served at meals as well. Every family has a favorite sweet, and recipes for them are handed down through generations. Some family favorites include apricot yogurt cake, crunchy sugar cookies, and chewy sesame seed fudge. Their eating habits and dishes are very different from other countries, but they can still compare to the cuisine in the United States. American food is very diverse; everybody eats different foods. However, some enjoy grilled meat, fruit, and vegetables, and many enjoy dessert foods.
Armenians are very happy people that take pride in their history and culture. Although it is very big, Armenia is full of people that love their home country and their unique way of life.

I need help with a introduction — all I have is my thesis down.

There are many online web sites that offer you a list of colleges and universities, but most of them are paid.
Here is one web site that offer you to browse schools around the world for 100% free .
Just complete their questions and they will accept you.

Go to http://EduFinder.info

Hope that will help you

So, I mailed something to Canada from Wisconsin for the first time ever on March 2. When I went to the post office, the woman behind the desk told me that it would be able to be tracked via the customs number.

I found out today that the recipient has not received the package. I called the USPS line and was told that they could not use the customs number for tracking.

I called the post office that I sent the package out at, and was given a number to call for international packages. I called and the automated system said they could not track my package.

What do I do now? The package contained a quilt that was going to be used as a baby shower gift this weekend! I don’t want to let this person down!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

If there is a better place for this question, please tell me where!!!! I also posted in travel.

try this link:

http://www.usps.com/shipping/trackandconfirm.htm

not sure how you sent it but here:

http://www.usps.com/international/sendpackages.htm

did you insure the package?

hope you locate it! for what it is worth…it usually takes a looong time.