Christmas! What a wonderful time of the year and yet many are conflicted over Christmas. Its good feelings and its bad feelings. Most will spend a day or more with family that we may not see any other time of the year. Some of these people we love more when we see them less. There is always an uncle "know it all" and an aunt "super sensitive". We drink our egg nog while walking on egg shells.

We love to give gifts and especially listen for the oohing and ahhing when our gifts to others are opened by them. We feel like failures when the oohs and ahhs are too few. Then we feel anger, after all we had to take out a second mortgage just to buy those wonderful gifts. Well, at least we will be surprized by our gifts and smiles will surface on our face. When we open that beautiful box, only to find plaid socks and underwear, we fake a feeble ooh and skip the ahh.

Well, we still can enjoy the spread. Turkey, dressing, and all kinds of pies, cakes and candies. Then I realize I'm on a diet. I eat my full anyway and then spiral into depression as I reflect upon my lack of self control.

After viewing Christmas from an "all about me" perspective, I repent and reflect again on what Christmas is really about. Its about small children when they enter Santa's domain early on Christmas morning. Their oohs and ahhs are what makes life what it is. Such unadulterated joy is hard to find these days. Maybe if we could become as little children, we could rediscover the joy of Christmas.

Yet there is an even more profound reason for celebrating and enjoying this time of the year. We don't know exactly the month or day Jesus was born, at least not with absolute certainty. Traditionally the world has chosen December the 25th as the day for celebrating God's Son and His entrance into the world. I am thankful that at least some still remember the importance of His birth and life.

At Christmas we would do well to remember the model of giving and the proper way to receive.

"FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE."

The giver is God, the gift is His only Son to live, die and live again. The recipients of the gift are the humans who occupy the planet earth. Some choose to receive the gift with the oohs and ahhs of faith; others view the gift as though he were a lump of coal.

May those who believe show their gratitude as we celebrate the gift and realize that no gift we give will ever cost as much as what God and His Son paid for our gift. May we also remember that no gift we give or receive will last forever, but God's gift keeps on giving forever.

Merry Christmas!