Relief Society Christmas Talk

    Christmas is a magical time of year that I have always loved. As a parent I love seeing the magical twinkle in my children's eyes as the Christmas Season approaches. I love the feeling of love and peace that comes at Christmas and how people seem to magically get along better.

    I tend to be one of those people who start their Christmas shopping in July. To be honest, it's partially so I can get a better deal, but mainly it's because there aren't many things better than finding the perfect Christmas gift for someone.

    I know Christmas can be a hectic and stressful time with all the activities, the coming and going and the lists of things we want to get done. It can be stressful when your budget is small or when you're going through hardships in your family.

    I have definitely found myself caught up in the hustle and bustle. Luckily I have a husband who kindly and patiently reminds me to keep things in perspective.

    To me Christmas is about family togetherness, giving of one's self, and of course most importantly the Savior. I believe that our family traditions should reflect what Christmas means to our families.

    We have a few family traditions in our home that help us to remember what Christmas means to us:

First Togetherness

• We always spend the day after Thanksgiving putting up Christmas decorations. The kid's help, which means that we LITERALLY spend the day! But, we have fun together. We pop popcorn and drink hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies together.
  
• Throughout the month of December in the evenings we gather around the Christmas tree and read our Christmas Story books. We cuddle and talk about things that we are looking forward to.
  
• Every night as we tuck the kids into bed we Sing Christmas songs .
  

Second, Giving.

• Every year since Andy and I were married we have picked a person/family that we could help in some way for Christmas. Some years we were able to do more, and some years our budget required us to be more creative. We look forward to finding a way to help someone less fortunate than ourselves.
  
• We have also made a special effort to give meaningful and thoughtful gifts. We almost always end up with a few homemade gifts; whether it's a family history, a calendar, or a pillow. Finding a gift that you are excited to give is what makes Christmas wonderful for me.
  
• Starting last year I've taken time to help Sadie make gifts for the family. They are very simple, artwork, random, questionable things, but regardless it helps her to understand the joy that comes from Christmas and reminds her that Christmas is about getting, but giving.
  

Lastly, The Savior.

• As most families do, we have a special nativity set on display to help us remember the Savior, but we also have a nativity set for each of the kids. They have a ton of fun interacting and playing with their nativity sets. They have been wonderful in helping to show the kids the Christmas story and have created opportunities for us to share and for the kids to ask questions.
  
• Each Christmas on Christmas eve, while we are together with the extended family we have a short devotional with a spiritual message about the Savior.
  
• The year before Andy and I were married I decided that each year I would decide on one gift that I would give the savior. I would either make a goal to stop or start doing something that I knew I needed to improve upon. Right now, my kids are too young for this tradition, but it is a way that I have been able to feel closer to the savior and look forward to doing as a family as my children get older.
  
• Lastly, on Christmas morning we all gather in our room before we see if Santa has come or open presents and take time to say our family prayers to show our gratitude for our blessings and to help us remember the savior throughout the day.