kamil

By Lorraine Ball If you want to build loyalty is it more important to increase purchase frequency or purchase volume? In their book, “Meaningful Marketing”, researchers Doug Hall and Jeffrey Stamp concluded that focusing on purchase volume is 3.9 times more effective when trying to build annual loyalty. Why? Loyalty is not static. Your competitors are always out there, trying to make even your best customers try something new. The research shows that it is best to strike when the iron is hot! When the customer is in a buying mode, help them buy. You may not get another chance later. Hall and Stamp recommend that business owners follow the lead of McDonalds, and think about super sizing the offer. Give your customers a reason to buy more! When your customer is ready to buy, give them incentives to purchase more. Long term contracts or larger packages offer you more profit, so pass along some of the savings to customers. Offer incentives, such as discounts on multiunit purchases, to encourage them to buy more now. Do you want fries with that? Every time you walk into a McDonalds, and order a hamburger, the person behind the counter asks, Do you want fries with that? By simply training their employees to ask the question, McDonalds increased their sales dramatically. The same technique can grow sales for your business. Do you routinely offer accessories and extra services with every sale? Are these options clearly listed on every proposal with the benefits spelled out for your consumer? If not, it is time to revise your proposal. The research shows that if you dont mention it up front, you may not get a second chance. The Meal Deal McDonalds discovered most customers wanted a drink, fries and sandwich. As a result, they developed a pricing structure that was so attractively that almost everyone buys a # 1, 2 or 3. This concept can work for you as well. Bundle accessories and service contracts into the purchase price as standard. Discount the your package only slightly when you leave out an accessory and most consumers will buy the whole package. Offer Free Stuff This bundled approach allows you to offer an extra service ( which costs you very little) free with complete system sale.This bundled approach will help you set yourself apart in the market place as well. Dont stop with the Meal - Offer a Complete Package Another tactic is to view your product from the customer’s perspective. What will they need to maximize the use or enjoyment of your product or service? If you offer these related products, either directly or through a strategic partner, your customer has fewer reasons to go elsewhere. What types of services should you offer? If you sell a product to new homes, consider offering a $25 coupon for a landscape company or nursery with every system you sell. Or maybe a gift certificate for carpet cleaning, or floor refinishing. Your customers will appreciate the little extras. These extra services dont have to be an expense item for you. Many companies pay referral bonuses. Talk to service provides about giving you the coupons for free instead of the referral bonus. And, if you are smart, you will give them coupons for your services as well. These are just some examples of ways to grow you your business by building customer loyalty. For other ideas, simply observe successful companies in industries very different from HVAC, and you may learn other ways to Supersize your business. Lorraine Ball helps business owners find a starting point for growth and change. http://www.roundpeg.biz or call 317-908-0262 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lorraine_Ball http://EzineArticles.com/?SuperSize-Your-Sales!&id=78338 zolpidem omega 1 receptors ambien qoclick shop ambien cr image ambien and brain studies

By Rebecca Crystler When it comes to weight loss, we all want it to be as quick and painless as possible. This desire for an instant solution can lead to an individual making unwise choices. Some of these unwise choices can be resorting to a restrictive diet, not staying well hydrated, and using diet pills. Restrictive Diets When we try to lose weight, the first thing many of us try is to drastically reduce the amount of calories we are consuming. We may even follow a diet that tells us to eliminate certain types of food entirely. This is a mistake. In order to achieve healthy, permanent weight loss, we need to enjoy foods from all food groups. If we suddenly go on a very restrictive diet, our bodys metabolism will actually slow down in response to the (imaginary) threat of starvation. What we want to do is to follow a simple formula for healthy weight loss: Eat less, exercise more, and do it forever. Dehydration Did you know that drinking more water will actually help you lose weight? Its true! Heres how it works: One of the main functions a liver performs is to convert the bodys stored fat to energy. Another one of the livers jobs is to take over from the kidneys. The kidneys need to have a lot of water in order to function properly. If the kidneys dont have enough water and the liver has to take over, then the livers productivity is greatly lessened. The liver simply cant metabolize fat as well. When this takes place, your body will store up more fat. Do make a point of increasing your water consumption. Eight glasses a day is only about two quarts of fluid. Some people prefer to drink their water cold, since the stomach is able to absorb cold water more quickly. If you find that drinking warm water works best for you, then by all means drink it warm. You may also find that when you drink more water, your appetite decreases, too! Diet Pills A number of people have turned to appetite-suppressant pills to aid in weight loss. This may seem like an attractive option, but using these products can lead to some dire health issues. Phenylpropanolamine (PPA), an ingredient in both appetite suppressants and cold remedies, has been found to be responsible for over 200 cases of stroke each year. In addition to the increased risk of sustaining a stroke, consumers of diet pills also can experience such side effects as irritability, insomnia, fatigue, high blood pressure, irregular heart beat, and seizures. In addition to the health risks associated with their use, diet pills are not a permanent solution to the issue of losing weight. Often, a person who chooses to use these types of products will end up gaining back all the weight he or she has lost. Its not quick or easy, but it is possible to reach your goal of losing weight in a safe manner. Make gradual changes to your lifestyle and keep in mind that these should be considered permanent. Avoid a restrictive diet, keep yourself well hydrated, and dont resort to diet pills. Your health is too important to risk. Rebecca Crystler is an experienced weight loss expert who has helped literally hundreds of overweight people get back into shape. If you want to learn much more about how to avoid dangerous methods to lose weight and learn more about what actually works, be sure to visit Rebecca’s site Definitive Weight Loss for a whole lot of useful information on losing weight. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rebecca_Crystler http://EzineArticles.com/?Avoiding-Dangerous-Weight-Loss-Practices&id=540151 ambien generic nonprescription alternative ambien with halcion lorazepam 2mg overdose lorazepam site

By Cheri Moseley After 45 years of pictures, I finally got an album of my OWN LIFE done. I had tons of photos and made one for each of my siblings (3) but never got to my own life. By then, I just wanted to get it done and have it before something went wrong and I never got to do it. So I gathered all my photos, black and whites too and got started! There are photos that go with this article, but to see them you will have to go to my web page - see the link in my signature line! How Did I Organize 100’s Of Photos From 45 Years? Well, it was actually pretty easy. I chose to organize them according to the HOUSE we lived in. We moved around alot and I remember the house and the schools I went to for the time periods. For instance, I remember going to Sierra Vista Elementary School when I lived in Fullerton and I was in 4th and 5th grade. The year? Didn’t remember most of the time. We did alot of camping and long camp trips - the year? Don’t remember but I certainly did remember the trip and things that happened. Holidays? Again, no year, but look at all of us in the photo…remember about that present or that tree or…… This one shows my years in first and second grade and my memories on the page in the middle and if you turn the middle journaled page, there are more photos on the 3rd page How Did I Manage The Memories? That is one thing that is hard to do - you go through life and think “That was so wonderful, I’ll never forget that!”. Well, unfortunately, you do forget over time. I looked at the photos and some I could remember and some I couldn’t. We are talking 45 years ago here! So instead of trying to make a memory for each photo, and since there were alot of memories I had and some had photos and some didn’t, I decided to journal ALL that I could remember about the time period of each set of photos ! By that I mean, I just sat down and brain-stormed about the “house” or “school” time. Not only things that I remember about myself, but also about my siblings, the house, the school, friends, places we went, holidays at the time - anything I could remember for that period of time. Many of these layouts are 4 page spreads with the journaling as the middle page How I Organized It After my brain storm of memories (few tears and smiles included there!) I went back and I grouped several memories about similar events or times. I put all the memories about my siblings together, then about my friends. Just organized it into a bit of EVENT sequence. I even did one layout showing each house I lived in and the address and something about each house!! This is time spent with my grand parents and what I remember about those 2 wonderful people and that wonderful house grandpa built with his own hands! It is a 4 page spread with journaling and photos on all pages. Then I Just Made It Look Nice! I found a fun font and use a color ink and printed it out on cardstock. Depending on how many memories I had, some pages were 8×10 fully, others were only half a page long. I decorated with stickers and put it in a page protector. The ones that were half a page long, I just cut down the page protector to match the half page. It might not be this great and wonderful chronologically specific scrapbook, but it does have my memories and that is what really matters. Actually the AGE or YEAR isn’t the topic of the memory, it is the EVENT and what happened that you are wanting to remember, not really how old you were or what year it was. I look at this album often. It is nice to just remember. http://scrapbook-layout-ideas.blogspot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheri_Moseley http://EzineArticles.com/?45-Years-of-Memories-and-How-I-Organized-Them—Quick-and-Easy-and-oh,-so-Wonderfully!&id=270892 free consultation cheapest ambien generic efficacy of ativan side effects zolpidem ambien zolpidem ambien

By Marta Driesslein Ask survivors of the most popular reality television shows and theyll tell you If you have to eat a cockroach, dont spend too much time thinking about it. Keep focused on the end-game and move on. Know yourself, have a plan, make a footprint. After youre fired, the raw power needed to convert a job loss into a high-voltage catalyst that gains multiple job offers is surprisingly simple. Consider these energizers: Who you are? Detangle your sense of job from your sense of self Where are you going?Design a five-year plan for career focus / direction What can you do?Maintain a life-long log of your career achievements Getting fired is a lot like getting divorced, says Steve Johnson, Vice President of Information Systems for R. L. Stevens & Associates Inc., http://interviewing.com/a leading international career marketing firm headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. All you hear is I dont want you anymore, he says. Own your success and your failures. When he was fired from a multi-billion dollar petroleum company earlier in his career, discernment gave Johnson, a business-world veteran, the inner strength to get up and get on instead of rolling over and playing dead. Despite an impressive portfolio of documented achievements that solidly contributed to the bottom line through process reengineering, he was still let go. His stellar performance though appreciated, was undervalued by his employers. Johnson made sure that this unexpected event did not end his career or dampen his spirits. The time I was given the pink slip and told my talents were no longer needed, I faced a decision to either continually bemoan the shut door or look forward and find a new door I could open. Possess the wisdom to know the difference between opportunity lost and possibility found. Johnson, an avid golfer, expertly swung himself out of his job loss bunker and found customers wanting his talents by taking the same approach in his job search as he does in his sport. Getting fired is like an awful day on the golf course. Youve got to stay in the game, play the holes, and adapt, improvise and overcome, he says. Every time a bad thing happened in my career, I always landed on my feet and good fortune proliferated through increased earnings, greater fulfillment and expanded opportunity to learn new skills. Using multiple career marketing strategies simultaneously I made sure that failure was never an option, he added. Quickly create opportunities for yourself by changing your mental and physical state. Heres what you can do to restore order out of your job loss chaos: Want to deactivate your fears? Take a vacation now to clear your head and get perspective Dont feed your anger by calling past colleagues and revisiting the past Welcome your firing as an unexpected career advancement to the next level Limit your pity party to one business day (8 hours) Forgive, let go, accelerate onward Want to reactivate your confidence? Volunteer your time to someone who needs you a charitable organization Convert your resume from a career obituary to a marketing promo piece Inventory your portfolio of skills and question their relevancy / currency Showcase your business talent by serving on a community task force Upgrade your self-marketing campaign to strengthen your branding Change your focus from retribution to restoration and youll find the key to layoff survival and increased employer interest. Swallow your pride and take control of your career by morphing yourself into a consultant. You might even be able to reverse your misfortune and sell your talents back to the boss who fired you. Many ingenious job searchers have done just that and leveraged their talents by filling a void left by their departure. If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise. Got any valid reason to settle for a bad-tasting insect when a juicy steak is just around the corner? Get on with it. About the Author: Marta L. Driesslein is a senior management consultant for R.L. Stevens & Associates Inc. http://interviewing.com/. For over 24 years R.L. Stevens & Associates has been the Nations most successful privately-held firm, specializing in executive career searches generating quality interviews through both advertised and unadvertised channels. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marta_Driesslein http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Receive-Multiple-Job-Offers-After-Youre-Fired&id=46512 ambien fedex comprimido zolpidem 60 minutes ambien ambien dosages

By Sheila Dicks Like organizing our closets we must from time to time clean out our makeup cabinets and make sure what we have is still working for us. If you want flawless makeup and professional looking results you must use the correct makeup tools. The right blush brush for example, will make it possible that your blush gives you a perfect glow rather than a harsh streak or blob. Also, the right tools are necessary to do the job correctly to define and conceal. ESSENTIAL TOOLS: Sponge: A sponge makes it possible to get into difficult spots and controls makeup application; used correctly a sponge will give your foundation an even finish. A sponge is great for touch-ups and is less likely to pull on the skin. Buy them in bulk and change them often. Brushes: A good blush brush is soft with bristles that are about 1 inches. Dont use the small, hard brushes that come in compacts because it will be difficult to get a nice even finish. An eye shadow brush should also be soft. Look for a lipstick brush that is retractable. It helps keep the brush clean and in great shape. A blending brush should be about wide and will help blend the different color eye shadows together to create a natural look. Use a brow brush to keep eyebrows under control and give them a smooth look. Your powder brush should be large, soft, firm and fluffy. Eyelash curler: An eyelash curler is a must if you have short, straight eyelashes or just straight eyelashes. An eyelash curler (along with mascara) will give your eyelashes the appearance of being longer. Tweezers: Have tweezers close by to keep your eyebrows well groomed. Well-groomed eyebrows will open the eye. ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS Cleanser: To have radiant skin you must keep it clean. A cleanser that is compatible with your skin type will do that and keep it moisturized. Moisturizer: Moisturizers will keep your face feeling fresh and will help foundation glide on. Choose one that is compatible with your skin type. Exfoliant: Exfoliants do a great job keeping dry patches to a minimum and will get rid of flaky skin. Foundation: Foundations give the skin an even look and will protect it from the elements. You should be able to see your skin through your foundation. It shouldnt look like a mask. Powder: Whether you choose loose powder or a powder compact powder will give your face the final touch, keep your makeup in place and get rid of shine. Mascara: The best mascara brush has wide spaces and does not cause mascara to clump. Only wear waterproof when you plan to get wet and change your mascara every 3 months to avoid it drying out or attracting bacteria. Blush: Blush can be powdered or cream. A cream blush is harder to apply and is best for those with dry skin. A powder blush will go on much easier. Eyebrow Pencil: Use an eyebrow pencil if your eyebrows are thin or to fill in gaps. Choose a color that is a shade lighter than your hair. Eyeliner: Keep the edges rounded for a softer look; when applying make sure the eyeliner is in the lash line. Eye shadow: Powder shadows are easier to apply than creams. Use a matte shadow if you have wrinkles around the eyes and keep eye shadow light. Lip liner: To outline the lips choose a shade that complements your lipstick. Lipstick: Use a shade that complements your skin tone. Sheila Dicks is an Image and Wardrobe consultant who helps women feel more confident by dressing to suit their body type. To get tips on how to dress slimmer and find your best styles get a copy of her ebook Image Makeover at http://www.how-to-dress.com or go to http://www.sheilasfashionsense.com to get the Free Report 7 Things Your Girlfriends Wont Tell You About Beauty and Fashion. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sheila_Dicks http://EzineArticles.com/?Flawless-Makeup:-Are-You-Using-the-Right-Tools?&id=57136 ambien suggested retail price ambien and imitrex buy zolpidem overnight ativan withdrawal symptoms

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Emily_Clark] Emily Clark Now, imagine what it would be like if you were sick, scared and had only third grade reading skills. Your doctor tells you, “You’vegot to follow these instructions exactly, or you could die.” About 200 recent studies have shown the reading difficulty ofmost health related materials FAR exceeds the average readingabilities of the American adult. One of the biggest silent healthproblems today is the gap between health materials and readingskills. In the United States, the average reading level is eighth grade.In 1992, the Educational Testing Service determined that halfU.S. adults read at between first and eight grade level. That isabout 148 million people. It gets worse. One quarter of Americansread BELOW FOURTH GRADE level, meaning 74 million people wouldstruggle with even the simplest, most well written healthmaterials. Does it matter? Do you remember the anthrax scare, when someonewas putting deadly white powder into our mail system? During that terrorist scare, the U.S. post office mailed millionsof post cards to Americans. The post cards told people how toprotect themselves from the deadly infection. They gaveinstructions on how to handle and report suspicious mail. Thesepost cards were written at between ninth and eleventh gradereading level. More than half the people who got that mailing could not read itwell enough to protect themselves and others. Does it matter? Do148 million people matter? Will it matter the next time theterrorists strike? Do you remember the mailing the Surgeon General sent outexplaining how to avoid contracting HIV? He made every effort tosee that it was written in clear, simple language. He gotcriticism for just how plain talking it was in places. A laterevaluation of that document showed that it was written at betweenseventh and ninth grade level. Half the people receiving it readat a level BELOW what was required to read it. No wonder theinfection keeps spreading. Think about it. For millions of people, the problem is not justthe tiny print on prescription bottles. The problem is the wordsthemselves. What does “take on an empty stomach” mean exactly?When should you “take four times a day”? Perhaps your doctorexplained to you at the office. Do you remember what the doctorsaid a week later? Have you ever read the instructions for testing and assessingblood sugar levels? Have you ever tried to fill out a Medicare form? Do you struggle with letters from your health insuranceprovider? Only 45% of asthmatics with literacy problems knew that theyshould stay away from things they are allergic to even if theyWERE taking asthma medication. 89% of the people reading at highschool level were clear about the same information. It’s not amatter of intelligence. It’s a matter of a missing skill whichwell-educated health providers presume is present in theirreaders when they sit down to write. There are two parts to the problem: the writer and the reader.Recently, the public health community has begun efforts to raiseawareness. They are alerting the medical providers to the impactof health literacy issues. Some fledgling efforts are underway toprovide clearer, simpler materials for the public. People arefinding alternatives to reading for presenting the sameinformation. There is a long way to go. Sign up now with your local literacyprogram as a volunteer. Drop in on your elderly neighbor and help her learn to read thespecialized health material so critical in her life. (You maywant to ask her about her life first, to save embarrassment whenyou learn you’re talking to a retired English teacher). Startwith all those ridiculously obscure materials her doctor senthome with her about glaucoma. You can go on to that Medicare formshe needs to send in tomorrow. Do you want to know what eighth grade reading level is? You justread 700 words of it. 74 million Americans reading at belowfourth grade level could have found it too hard for them tounderstand. The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any health care program. Emily Clark is editor at [http://www.lifestyle-health-news.com] Lifestyle Health News and [http://www.medical-health-news.com] Medical Health News where you can find the most up-to-date advice and information on many medical, health and lifestyle topics. Article Source: [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Emily_Clark ] http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emily_Clark [http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-You-Sometimes-Confused-by-Written-Medical-Instructions?&id=44689 ] http://EzineArticles.com/?Are-You-Sometimes-Confused-by-Written-Medical-Instructions?&id=44689 buy ambien online no rx overnight shipping ambien zolpidem information ambien order united states ambien fedex

By Bryan Josling In the mid east, there is the custom of wearing hijaab among women. It is a kind of veil that covers the entire face. Though it has taken many a connotations with time (largely controversial), the very basic purpose of it was to protect the facial skin from the sun. Skin care, as can be seen, has been accorded wide importance at all times. In addition, it has been an ubiquitous phenomenon as no part of the world is unaffected with the concern for their skin. Skin care with herbs and plant extracts is finding growing popularity in recent years. This is termed as aromatherapy skin care. Aromatherapy skin care is not a recent concept. Only that we were so engrossed in artificial and synthetic products that we forgot the huge resource of our nature. Artificial skin care products are easily available. This was the primary plank on which these became the order of the day. For the natural remedies for skin care, one had to visit their source, i.e. the forest. This was an impossible task for a common person. So, artificial moisturizers, artificial lotions, artificial sunscreens, and several other artificial skin care products almost enveloped the market. It was because of constant research on the subject that people understood the adverse effects of artificial products. Now, people who are concerned about their skin and are willing to spend that extra buck for the correct remedy for their skin, have voted for natural skin care products and aromatherapy skin care. If seen from the point of view of cost, then aromatherapy skin care will turn out to be the cheapest. If one wants then he can prepare an all-natural skin care preparation at home. Does this demand time? No! Devote your weekend to skin care (your skin truly deserves that). Many preparations last for a few days to certain weeks. So, one may keep them for use during the weekdays. This will ensure that you do not get late for office while readying your skin for the day. Simple techniques are involved in aromatherapy skin care. While taking a bath, sprinkle two drops each of lavender, bergamot, and cedar wood. This will keep you refreshed all day. If you are feeling nervous, then use of essentials oils of geranium and basil is recommended. Similarly, there are baths aimed at relieving people of insomnia or fatigue. If using a skin softener, look for sweet almond oil in the product. Being rich in Vitamins A, B1, B2, and B6, your skin will glow. Exposing ones skin to steam is also helpful. This helps open the pores in the skin and thus prevents skin inflammations. A cleanser too works in the same manner. It helps keep the skin clean. Always use a chemical free and soap free cleanser. One may have a vast choice from natural cleansers available in the market. All these attempts to keep your skin healthy and glowing will go waste if you are stressed. Stress shows on your face (unless you are a master deceiver). Go for a spa and rejuvenate yourself. Bryan Josling is working with the Horticultural Research Station in Adelaide. He has also been involved with research on plants. To find romatherapy essential oils,Aromatherapy Skin Care,essential oils wholesale visit http://www.ndaroma.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bryan_Josling http://EzineArticles.com/?Moving-Back-To-The-Nature-Through-Aromatherapy-Skin-Care&id=210418 ambien birth control online ativan valiumxanaxambien zolpidem zolpidem dosage studies

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Amanda_Dorthy]Amanda Dorthy LG, the South Korean electronics giant is now completely eyeing on the high end mobile market. The company has just taken a giant leap in the world of mobile telephony and has launched some exciting handsets-the sophisticated LG U970 Shine and LG U400 Neo are two among them. Both the handsets have got a plethora of features. We will see the phone features one by one. First, come to the features of the LG U970 Shine. The LG U970 Shine boasts of a brushed metal casing as well as a mirror effect display which makes it look more like an exquisite sculpture than a mere mobile handset. The LG U970 Shine supports 3G and carries two cameras-one 2 megapixel main camera (with autofocus, flash, 2 x digital zoom and Schneider Kreuznach lens) for taking image and videos, and the second a VGA camera for the purpose of video calling. The phone features an integrated music player which supports formats like MP3, AAC, AAC+ and AAC++. Connectivity part of the phone is magnificently controlled through 3G, HSDPA, Bluetooth and USB. The phone carries WAP browser and HTML and houses 512MB internal memory-massive one. The phone has a 2.2 inch QVGA 262k colour screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. On the other hand, the LG U400 Neo is studded with a 2 inch QVGA colour screen with an effective resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The handset has got a unique sliding look-thanks to its jog wheel feature which helps you to navigate through the menus at great speed. Moreover, the jog wheel function provides you with the hottest DJ-ing scratching feature. The phone supports advanced 3G technology-so there are two cameras in it-2 megapixel main camera (1600 x 1200 pixels, flash and digital zoom) and VGA camera (for video calling). The built-in music player is smart enough to support formats like AMR, MP3, AAC, AAC+, ADPCM and WMA. The LG U400 Neo has got some more features like Audio On Demand Music Streaming, Bluetooth, SyncML, USB, UMTS, WAP, Teleca Q Line browser, MicroSD memory card slot for memory expansion and so on. For more information on latest [http://www.bestcontractmobilephone.co.uk/Phone_Deal.asp?Ph=LG--U400--Neo]LG U400 Neo and [http://www.bestcontractmobilephone.co.uk/Phone_Deal.asp?Ph=LG--U970--Shine]LG U970 Shine on 3 mobile, t mobile, orange, O2, Vodafone network, please visit our online [http://www.bestcontractmobilephone.co.uk/]Mobile Phones Shop. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amanda_Dorthy http://EzineArticles.com/?LG-U970-Shine-vs-LG-U400-Neo:-Give-Me-More&id=594858 phentermine online free shipping order phentermine without a prescription phentermine and no prescription buy phentermine with a mastercard

By Les Herron There is a movie on DVD called “Christmas With the Kranks”. The movie is based upon a John Grisham novel called Skipping Christmas. Mr. Krank is the star of the story. He is tired of spending so much money on Christmas and faking good cheer so he hatches what he sees to be a brilliant scheme to skip Christmas; not just skip Christmas but leave for a dream cruise on Christmas Eve. He enlists his wife in this plan which appears to be heading towards success but falls apart on Christmas Eve day. Tim Allen, who plays Mr. Krank, is sort of a modern day Grinch or Scrooge who is seen as being a Bah! Humbug sort of fellow. Of course, as in all good stories there is redemption in the end as Mr. Krank realizes the true meaning of Christmas is family, friends, and tradition. The only problem with his realization is that the true meaning of Christmas is the birth of a Baby named Jesus who was born for the sole purpose of being sacrificed and resurrected so the world could be rescued from damnation and live eternally with God. It is okay, though, that the book and the movie got the meaning of Christmas wrong; most of us Christians who claim the holiday as ‘ours’ have gotten it wrong for about 100 years. Yep, as soon as we invited Santa Clause into our homes and lied about the existence of an all powerful, always present, and discerning evil fat man in a red suit into our homes we were on a slippery slope towards wiping Christ out of Christmas. When we told them about Santa with equal enthusiasm as we told them about God in heaven, Jesus as friend, and the Holy Spirit as Comforter we blew it. When we started celebrating by giving gifts to ourselves and to those who can return gifts to us instead of doing the Christ (ian) thing of giving to those who cannot give in return and loving those who were unlovely and worse yet hated us then we strayed from the path of Christ thinking that made Jesus perfect and true and right. The crucified Jesus has played second fiddle to Santa for too long but no one has seemed to care enough to notice. Do you children get their picture taken with a fake Santa or with a fake Jesus? Do we say Ho! Ho! Ho! in celebration or Holy! Holy! Holy! in glorification? Do we wrap our gifts in pretty paper with Santa and snow on them or in swaddling clothes or shepherd scenes to remember the Perfect Lamb? During these festive seasons do we party with those we love and feel comfortable with or do we party with the down and outers, the lonely, and those that polite culture has forgotten about (except for throwing them a couple of bucks, a scoop of soup, or a warm blanket)? Many Christian groups hated Christmas and vehemently opposed it up until the late 1800’s because they could find no scriptural support for it. Can you? Neither can I. As a matter of fact there were only 18 of our United States that even recognized it as a holiday in a large part because the Puritans couldnt stand it (which is odd that they could stand the scratchy wool clothing, the funny hats, and the ban on all card games and almost any entertainment; I think had I lived in that era I would have to have become an Indian instead of a Puritan and worn some nice moccasins, some feathers, and leather; believe it or not, I look good in feathers and leather!). I love the Christmas stories and movies and traditions. There are several movies we watch every year and the best of all is “Youll shoot your eye out!” as proclaimed by the loving mom in The Christmas Story. I love the idea of snow at Christmas and I’m a sucker for decorative lights, candles, and even red during Christmas. I love a Santa with a real beard and a beer belly covered in red velvet. There is nothing better than the parties at the office, at the church, and in the homes of friends.Yet none of that represents the Christ who was born in order to die for me. None of that shows Gods love for me and for the entire world. And when it comes to taking the name of Christ off this holiday of insane consumerism and meism I am just not very concerned. In fact, the holiday probably gives God a black eye in that He is so poorly represented in a holiday with His name on it. So, what is the deal with Xmas? It really should be $mas! And let us not fool ourselves into thinking that we celebrate the holidays much differently than non-Christian families. We may not drink the egg nog that makes you happy and we may not give cigars or R-rated games and DVD’s for gifts but do if we were really wanting to keep Christ in Christmas then we would be giving gifts of eternal value instead of highly valuing gifts that will last such a short time. And I hate to keep saying this but it is straight up Jesus’ words; you do not reflect God’s love when you give to yourself or to others who already love you! Jesus said that even the dirty, dark hearted sinners do that. The love of Christ gives to those who cannot give in return. The love of God reached out and sought me even while I was yet in my sin and continues to draw me into His heart. Another thing is this: I feel forced to take offense at non-believers who use Xmas but fellow Christians (and yes, I am saved!) look at me like I am insane when I am not indignant enough or offended at the same thing that offends them. Well, I refuse to be offended or upset (you can’t make me!) at what non-believers do. Was Jesus? It seems He was an offense to the religious and a Savior to the lost; choosing to circumvent political and moral dilemmas in order to offer them an eternal intimacy. This year my heart has changed in the middle of the Christmas debate. Instead of jumping on the side of the guys who know everything Jesus would do and tossing hand grenades at the liberals, I am saddened by the fact that it is just a holiday for them to receive worldly trinkets of no value in the long run. I am also horribly convicted that I dont care any more about them then that they entered into my world and used a 4-letter word, drank a beer, or placed an X where I think Christ should be. So, Christians, just stop worrying about losing this holiday to the dastardly heathens in the retail industry and begin to feel convicted about losing your light and your saltiness. The holiday was lost years ago to the gospel of self and the retail industry is just riding the wave to financial victory; and I think that we are just figuring this out. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Les_Herron http://EzineArticles.com/?Christians-Took-Christ-Out-of-Christmas-Years-Ago-So-Why-All-the-Crying-About-XMas?&id=378756 phentermine diet pills on line where can i order phentermine generic phentermine no prescription phentermine no prescription us

By Bill McRea There is nothing nicer than receiving a gift relating to one’s passion. If your loved one’s passion is gardening, then show your thoughtfulness by giving a gift that will be truly appreciated. There are so many great gardening gifts that the only constraint is your own budget. If your budget is small, go for things like gloves, kneepads or even a shady hat. A pretty pot (or a watering-can) filled with a small bag of potting mix, a packet of bulbs, some gloves and a small trowel or other tool will be received with delight by most gardeners. There are many hand tools at hardware stores that are reasonably priced. If you feel that is too ordinary, how about a subscription to a gardening magazine? A tiny bit more expensive perhaps, but it will give twelve full months of delight. A book on gardening is another idea, but make sure your recipient does not already have the one you choose. Books are often heavily discounted at Christmas time, so you may get a bargain. On the other hand, a pot that contains a flowering plant is usually a welcomed gift. Be sure to choose a plant that is suited to your climate. Sometimes plants are sent from tropical to temperate zones and kept in artificial conditions in the store. These plants will not do well once taken from their environment. Shrub roses are hardy and attractive and grow in many climates. Tulips do best in the cooler climate. If your budget is strong, a more expensive tool may be appropriate. A pull-trolley is easier to use than a wheelbarrow and, like some electric tools, is still not terribly expensive. Small electric tools such as whipper-snippers can retail for as little as $20.00. Or if your friend has a hose but not a hose reel, then that would be a more useful gift that he would truly appreciate. Automatic lawn mowers, electric cultivators, hedge trimmers and brush cutters are in the more expensive price range and you are the only one who can decide whether that is an appropriate gift. However, when the recipient realizes you have given a gift that complements his passion, expensive or not, it will certainly become the best gift your friend has ever received. Bill McRea is the publisher of Garden Facts also Garden Decor and Landscape Trees Landscaping and Gardening with information and products. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_McRea http://EzineArticles.com/?Great-Gardening-Gift-Ideas&id=219795 phentermine 37.5 mg without a prescription phentermine adipex pharmacy phentermine 37.5 90 no prescription phentermine 37.5 mg without a prescription