This Christmas

Christmas lost a little bit of its magic for me this year, but something else rose up to fill its place.  I was sure that the climactic moment would be the kids coming down the stairs for their first real taste of Santa, but it was a little bit of a let-down.  They bypassed the "invent-a-tent" we had so carefully picked out and set-up near the tree in favor of ping-pong balls (which weren't even for them).  Luke's "box of candy" just wasn't quite big enough, and the presents I had lovingly picked out or made for everyone else after months of planning just weren't received with as much enthusiasm as I had imagined.  I guess that's what happens as you get older--Christmas morning just doesn't seem quite the same.  Santa really does have quite a lot of work to do, and the pay-off seems quite small in comparison.  After a few minutes of pouting in my room after present-opening, I started realizing that I must be growing up.  I guess that seems a little silly to say at my age and situation in life.  I guess it was the first year that the really important things about Christmas seemed to stand out the most.  The highlights this year were so much different than what I had originally thought:  planning out gifts for loved ones, gathering as family, and--most of all--our Christmas Eve program.  We visited my family this year and did what we do every Christmas.  We all sat near the piano and read scriptures about Christ, including Luke 2, while singing Christmas songs at intervals according to what we read.  Then, we sang a few fun songs and hung up our stockings to "Hang Up The Baby Stocking".  The charm of the season really did seem to be held in the story of Christ's birth instead of what was waiting under the tree and in closets around the house.  I hope that my kids felt it, too.  It's not that exchanging gifts isn't any fun; we were all spoiled rotten this year, as usual.  But, presents get old or broken.  Love, family, and the gospel of Jesus Christ are what we can really hold on to.  I guess I got just what I wanted this year!