Tree Trimmin'

Decorating the Christmas tree has to be one of my all-time favorite traditions. We usually do it for family home evening and it is often the first night of Christmas music playing in the background, hot chocolate with cool whip, and EVERYBODY getting along for that one sweet moment in time.

I think it's one of those rare Christmas moments that blend the "fun" parts of Christmas -- you know, spending too much money, gobby decorations, long wish lists, etc -- with the true spirit of the season. This year, as I watched the kids' eyes twinkling and listened to their excited laughter while decking our tree, it reminded me of one of my best "mommy moments" ever. Breje was four and Trayson was two, and the big controversy that year was that maybe "good" parents shouldn't emphasize the whole Santa part of Christmas. It was something I thought about a lot. I adore Christmas. Everything about it. I revel in it and had always planned on helping my kids do the same, but the latest mommy buzz was that Christmas as we have come to know it was teaching our kids to believe in something that wasn't real, or at least messing up their priorities some. I wondered if I should scale back a bit -- and then we decorated our tree.

Anyone that has children knows that joyous moments are plentiful, but joy with peace and contentment is a bit more rare. This was one of those nights. Breje just sparkled while Jody helped her place ornaments, and our just-barely-toddling Trayson hadn't yet figured out how to pull the darn thing apart. We giggled and sang Christmas carols and just reveled in holiday spirit. When Jody put the star on top Breje looked up and said, "I just feel so warm and happy inside!"
I had one of those little light-bulb-above-my-head moments and asked, "do you know what that is?"

"It means that I feel the spirit!" she replied. She was just glowing (but not as much as me!)

That's when it hit me that Christ wants us to celebrate His birthday! He wants us to laugh and sing and give gifts and, as long as we remember why we are doing that, we have our priorities in exactly the right place! A huge relief to me, and a wonderful reminder that the greatest gift that we can give our Savior, in memory of His birth, is to share His kindness and love with everyone around us. Merry Christmas!