How Christmas Organizing Began

Whenever I meet new people and tell them about Christmas Organizing, they ask, "how did you start?" Here is the story of how it all began . . .

On December 29, 1998, I sat back and thought that I should have had a better Christmas. The Christmas of 1998 had passed and I felt like I was still trying to finish things up. Although I had purchased gifts months before to send to relatives they still sat in the room unwrapped and no closer to being mailed than the day I purchased the items. My cabinets were brimming with baking ingredients to make and take to everyone I knew but since it was after Christmas I would just have to use them for other things and start my list over for Christmas 99. Dread fell over me as I realized I must face people saying they missed me at church on Christmas Eve. My only excuse was being exhausted and to me that was not a valid reason for missing such an important service. For me, the true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ and I had allowed other things to keep me from celebrating, as I should. By not being prepared in certain areas for Christmas, I did not give my children who were one and three the Christmas I wanted to. This upset me most because I KNEW how to be prepared! Growing up I remember always buying gifts throughout the year and we started with the day-after-Christmas sales! For me giving gifts is my favorite part of the holiday season because I put so much time and effort into gift selections. My heart breaks whenever a close friend or family member mentions not wanting to exchange gifts. I do not want to make feel people obligated to give me a gift and it is fine if they do not want to give me a gift. At the same time though, I want them to understand I give gifts without expecting one in return because I LOVE that part of Christmas. Many of my gifts are hand-made or I spend lots of time finding the "right" gift for each person. So I realized I must put into action the things I knew to be better prepared to give the wonderful gifts and attend the programs and activities that would create wonderful family memories for my family for years to come.

So as I sat and pondered how to do this. Knowing my biggest problem was keeping on tract with what I already knew I came up with a solution! Over the past few months I had been introduced to e-mail lists and thought, this was the perfect way to communicate with a few other ladies. I would set up a list and take some other ladies along with me on my journey to stay on track! Thinking I would only find about 15-20 people, I was amazed that I had that many people sign up within the first hours. The original list name was "Christmas 99" which shows my original goal - just to get organized for Christmas 1999! Realizing in October of 1999 that my little idea for a list had grown to something far more than I had dared to dream I did research and came up with the name Christmas Organizing. The list continued to grow, this book was developed and I have been blessed with new friends all along the way! As Of December 29, 2000, there are 12 related e-mail lists with over 2700 people subscribed. The web site has grown from a free two-page site with just the challenges listed to a 50+-page web site and our own domain name. Christmas Organizing now offers a printed newsletter along with other products to help with Christmas Organization. The Christmas Organizing retreats are a big hit also and continue to grow as I go to cities all over the USA. Continually, I am amazed at people's response to the things I do and cry when they send me letters thanking me. God has truly blessed me with this business and I thank Him for it.