Giving Thanks Day 26: Christmas

In my parents' house, the weekend after Thanksgiving is always full of Christmas decorating. My dad pulls the seemingly countless bins of decorations from the basement while my mom sorts through what she has to figure out what she's going to put where (and to remember all the decorations she bought dirt cheap after Christmas the year before). Christmas music fills the house as mom replaces pictures and sets up nativity scenes. Dad goes outside to put the lights up on the house. I help with whatever I'm called to help with, whether it be putting up the tree or giving Dad an opinion on something outside.

I love how much my family gets into Christmas. There has never been a year that I can remember when Dad didn't put lights up outside or when the house wasn't bursting with nativities and Santas and snowmen. My future husband better be ready—I'm going to make him put lights up on the house and help me decorate the rest of the house. There is no negotiating. I will have lots of Christmas decorations.

The whole reason I love decorating so much is that it helps bring the spirit of Christmas into my life. I love Christmastime. I love Christmas music and Christmas trees and Christmas lights. I even love snow for Christmas, though after Christmas it could all just go away and I'd be happy. Most of all, I love how most people, regardless of religious beliefs, seem to embrace the spirit of Christmas. For the month of December, no one complains when they hear songs like "Silent Night," "The First Noel," or "O Holy Night." During Christmas, fewer people seem to balk at the mention of Christ. And I love that. It brings such a feeling of togetherness. For one month of the year, people make a concerted effort to forget their differences and be generous and kind to those around them.

I'm so thankful for this time of year when the Spirit of Christ strikes more deeply into the hearts of men. I'm thankful for the chance to remember Christ and His birth all month long. I'm thankful that I know the true meaning of Christmas and the true reason behind the magic of this time of year. And most of all, I'm thankful for Christ, without whom we all would be lost.