The Christmas Season

We actually sat down and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on Sunday - I usually don't remember that it is is going to be on until someone mentions it in church the next week. President Uchtdorf's message was EXACTLY what my Ward Christmas program is about - I leaned over to Ray and told him that I can hear the same Spirit as President Uchtdorf!! :)

President Eyring and President Monson's talked stayed with me, and the next night in Family Home Evening, I talked to the kids about Christmas. We talked about how the "clutter" of Christmas can get in the way of remembering what Christmas is really celebrating.

I am not one that gets excited - really about anything, but I'm talking about Christmas now. I don't say, "I can't wait for Christmas," or, "Christmas is my favorite time of the year." The closest I come is that my favorite music to sing is Christmas music. I even was thinking to myself that I don't think I'm ever really overcome with the "Christmas Spirit". But, having thought that, and testing my heart for it, I found it! :) A special warm feeling, looking forward to all the things I can do with my family and friends - indescribable, really. I just know I felt it, and I probably feel it every year, I just don't take the time to recognize it, so I don't remember it.

All week, I've been thinking about what I taught the kids during Family Home Eveniing. After I warned the kids about the Christmas clutter getting in the way, I asked why we have the clutter if it can get in the way? Christmas is the only holiday that I decorate the house for. We have our tree up, our lighthouse out, a few snowmen hanging around the house, some homemade snowflakes hanging on the walls. We discussed that we change our environment so much during the Christmas season to help us to remember Christ.

So many things change around Christmas time. Here is the short list that I've come up with over the last few days:

• We decorate a Christmas tree - ours is covered with ornaments that the kids have made, ornaments that mean something to us, full of memories.
• Various other decorations, including lights on the outside of the house - you can't get away from Christmas decorations.
• We change the music we listen to. We hear songs that are only played one season a year, all about Christ
• It SNOWS!!! In Utah, anway, what was once green (brown), is now white. What was flat, and good for running around playing tag, is now an adventureland. Snow angels, sledding, snow ball fights, big piles of snow made by the snowplow to climb up, dig in, slide down.
• What would be frivolous the rest of the year is now necessary - toys, cookies, treats. We spend hours talking about what to get each other the kids for Christsmas, shopping and planning the gifts that will get the best reaction on Christmas morning. I always try to limit my shopping to three gifts per kid, but I always exceed that - and make up for it by just saying, oh, this will be in their stocking, not under the tree!
• When normally we would pass strangers, we are more motivated to make eye contact and smile, even share a common greeting - "Merry Christmas!"
• There is a new excuse for anything - and it comes from the parents, not the kids. "It's Christmas!"
• We watch Christmas movies once a year - A Wonderful Life, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - and all those sappy Hallmark movies are welcomed in like old friends.
• More than ever, we watch our children. Their love of all things Christmas shining in their face is the most beautiful sight, melting our hearts, warming our souls, reminding us why we work so hard to keep things peaceful and happy during the season. Our family still laughs and fondly remembers E when she was little - about J's age now, 2 years old - yelling out with pure joy "Chri ma yights!" every time we drove past trees or houses with lights strung up. I have hope for a repeat from J this year - he says light just right! S was saddeningly correct in his speech.
• We have parties all over the place - work parties, ward parties, Relief Society parties. What normally I would complain about being over scheduling, we attend without thinking about it. It is Christmas!!
• Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we worry less about what we eat, diets are put on hold, and we just enjoy our lives. We take less stress on ourselves.
• We spend time fantasizing about Santa with our kids, talking about what he and the elves are doing now, what he is going to bring us on Christmas morning.
• We miss those we are seperated from - yet feel close to them again as we know they are celebrating the same way we are, and we anticipate hearing from them as we share Christmas cards and family newsletters.
• We take time planning gifts to people around us, to express our gratitude for their presence in our lives. Things that we typically take for granted during the rest of the year.

Is it any wonder that January seems to empty???

All these changes that we make every year, putting so much effort in to changing everything around us but never complaining about it, is an invitation. Our hearts are saying, I want more of the Christmas Spirit in my life, I want more happiness and joy with my family, more contentment, more peace. Sometimes, we go too far trying to catch that Peace, but everyone is searching for it. And, the Holy Ghost is just waiting for that invitation to have a greater influence in our lives. He jumps at the chance to fulfill his mission - to testify of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

As President Monson said, the Spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of Christ. As we all focus so much on feeling the Christmas Spirit, we are being taught of Christ, we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ. As we find that sweet Spirit in our lives, we learn better that He is our Best Friend, we Trust Him more, we become more like Him.

I LOVE the song, "Shine for Me Again: STAR OF BETHLEHEM". The last verse reads:

But life goes on, years beyond, one brief night of my youth.
Time clouds my vision of truth.
And though I stumble and fall, I can hear someone call:
"Do not despair, your star is still there."

That Christmas night, so long ago, has filled my life with light because I know
That he lives now, as he did then, a King in Bethlehem.
Whose love never ends.
Shine for me again, Star of Bethlehem.
Dan Carter

Just like the clutter of Christmas can get in the way of us remembering the reason for the season, the clutter of life gets in the way of us remember the reason for life, the giver of life. The answer to both is the same - REMEMBER. Do things every day to make sure we remember. Read your scriptures, say your prayers. Share your love for him in small ways to other people. Take some of the changes we make just for this season, and carry them forth into the rest of the year. I know, easy to say. Not so easy to do. But always worth the effort, bringing with it the immediate reward of a life filled with greater love and peace than can ever be attained without Him.

I am grateful for the knowledge that I already have of Him. I am grateful for the Trust I have in Him. I am grateful for the Love of God - my love for Him, and His love for me. I am grateful for my family, my home, mine and my husband's jobs. I am grateful for the presence of a sweet, happy 2 year old, a solemn, loving 5 year old, a caring 7 year old, and a helpful, lively 9 year old in my life. And I am grateful for all you friends - my life is better for knowing you.