The Gift

The kids received many wonderful presents this Christmas and they have been quite busy enjoying all of them. However, the thing that inspires the most squabbling is... (drum roll)... the 2 year old's new Slinky! Everyone wants to play with it, especially if someone else already is. Amazing.

We had a nice, spiritual Christmas Eve followed by an enjoyable Christmas morning- complete with our traditional "last present" treasure hunt with rhyming clues. (It led to a small new CD player for the girls' bedroom.) We had a great time when my sister's family came on Christmas night, feasting on veggies, meatballs, chips, apple cider and egg nog. We all got up before the sun to see them off on their Canadian ski trip the next morning and it was over all too soon. As we sat down for lunch later that day, my son held up his cup and said, "Dad, can I have some more door knob in my cup, please?" We all cracked up- egg nog, my dear. It's called egg nog.

I love the Christmas Season. I'm glad for the traditions we experience every year and the extra layer of meaning they acquire annually. Most of all I'm grateful for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who submitted himself to the will of our Father and created the path back to Him. He is the way whereby we return to our Father and the means whereby we become all that we were designed to be.

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:8) What a gift we've been given! The example and atonement of Jesus Christ are so important to me. I intend to rejoice in these gifts and try to use them every day.