I love Christmas.  Christmas is about hope and promise and love.  As a Christ-follower, Christmas is about the greatest gift of all - Jesus.  Mom and Dad loved Christmas and this will be my first Christmas without Mom.  I miss Mom, and yet I know she is celebrating Christmas this year with Dad and Suzie and so many others.  I am so happy for her and relish the memories.

This year I have been thinking about the impact Mom had on me, Dad, and our whole family.  Mom, “the Redhead,” had a habit of hugging everyone. No matter what time of year it was, Mom made you feel like it was Christmas.  She was always glad to see you and she couldn’t wait to see you the next time you came - every hug was a gift and she gave you gifts coming and going!

Mom’s hugs and unconditional love inspired Dad to write one of his most powerful works.  Dad was in the middle of writing the book Over The Top, and the publisher asked him to define what it meant to be “over the top.”  Dad struggled for weeks on the definition and he had writer’s block for the first time in his life.

Then one day Dad and Mom went to visit my aunt in a nursing home. As they walked down the long hallway to my aunt’s room, Mom stopped and hugged and whispered words of love and encouragement to each senior resident along the way.  Many were slumped in wheelchairs, unable to speak. As Dad witnessed this, he started weeping and praying, “Lord how can I love so easily and unconditionally like my wife does?”

In that very moment, God inspired Dad and he went to his car and in less than 15 minutes he wrote what in means to be “at the top.”

You Are at the Top When...

• You clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person, that yesterday ended last night, and today is your brand new day.

• You have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and optimistic about your future.

• You know that success doesn't make you and failure doesn't break you.

• You are filled with faith, hope and love; and live without anger, greed, guilt, envy, or thoughts of revenge.

• You are mature enough to delay gratification and shift your focus from your rights to your responsibilities.

• You know that failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to being the victim of what is criminally wrong.

• You are secure in who you are, so you are at peace with God and in fellowship with man.

• You have made friends of your adversaries, and have gained the love and respect of those who know you best.

• You understand that others can give you pleasure, but genuine happiness comes when you do things for others.

• You are pleasant to the grouch, courteous to the rude, and generous to the needy.

• You love the unlovable, give hope to the hopeless, friendship to the friendless, and encouragement to the discouraged.

• You can look back in forgiveness, forward in hope, down in compassion, and up with gratitude.

• You know that "he who would be the greatest among you must become the servant of all."

• You recognize, confess, develop and use your God-given physical, mental, and spiritual abilities to the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind.

• You stand in front of the Creator of the universe and He says to you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."   

Mom’s simple hugs changed many lives that day.  As you celebrate Christmas, take an extra second and hug just a little bit longer your family and everyone you come across.

Merry Christmas to you from the Ziglar family.  

Love and HUGS!

Tom