I’m offering two different pics for Jake’s challenge this week: one that demonstrates the joys of toys from a kid’s point of view and another that lets us take a peek at how even adults can be blessed by something as simple as a “teddy bear.”

This first photo is of me: Miss Bed-head of 1954. But Christmas morning does not allow for time to comb your hair and look neat, after all. An interesting note about this photo is that the doll cradle behind me — and the doll in it — were my sisters gifts.  This year, I went searching on the Internet for some old Christmas catalogs and found a site that offers complete copies of them from many years back. The site posts every page of several Christmas catalogs covering a period of 8 decades.  My sister looked in the pages of one of those catalogs to see if she could find the doll and cradle she had asked for that Christmas — and that our parents had ordered for her.  She found them exactly where she expected them to be.  It was a real treat for her.

Now, this next photo was taken about a year ago, when my dad was in the hospital. He had been through a rough year physically, but the Lord worked some wonderful miracles for him, and this picture shows him the day before he got to go home.  It was about a week before Thanksgiving, and I wanted to give him one of his Christmas gifts early.  I had found this Marine Teddy Bear at the gift shop in the hospital, and knowing my dad has always been proud of his service as a Marine during WW II, I knew it would really bless him.  It is musical, and when you push the button, a full chorus of men sing the entire first verse of “The Marine’s Hymn.” He loves it, and so does every child, grandchild, great-grandchild, and adult visitor who goes to his home.  He proudly displays it and plays it for all of them. It cheered him greatly while in the hospital and has given many happy hours of fun this whole past year.  My dad is back into his full life now, ministering for the Lord all the time, and we are all deeply grateful. I hope you enjoy this photo.

To take part in the challenge go to this link:
http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/sunday-post-toys/