Of Christmas Past and Present

The cool morning wind greeted me today on my way to work. I feel that Christmas is really here and I can't help but remember how I used to spend Christmas as a child. Let me take you back to memory lane for a while and tell you what it was like as best as I could. :)

One of my favorite Christmas celebrations was when I was 5 years old..My family lived in a rented house...it wasn't big enough for all of us (six kids plus ma and pa), but the homy atmosphere around the house brought contentment and happiness to me as a child. I remember my father coming home late at night from a party in the office with a prize he got from a raffle. I can still remember how I felt seeing him carry it and how happy we were that he won. It was not the grand prize by the way but for me it was "something". We celebrated Christmas that year having fun singing- my ma and pa has an old record player and they like to keep records of different artists both local and international. My father fixes appliances and that year, he fixed an old microphone which we used in singing.. My family just loved music!

The next Christmas I remember was when I was nine. This time, I got a bag for a present. My younger sis and I got bags with the same design but different colors. We never bought a Christmas tree- Christmas trees at that time were expensive to buy so my Ma would make one. I remember this particular Christmas because she used bond papers to wrap a branch of a tree she picked up outside our home. I have to give credit for her creativity and resourcefulness. We had fun playing parlor games with my sisters-that's a good thing for being six and all girls at that. We laughed and giggled as we played. We danced and sang.

I realized that much of the joy  I felt when I was young was not because of the things I got or the special meal I ate on Christmas. It was the fact that I was with my family and we were happy being together. Now that I am a mother, I felt ever more grateful and thankful to be so because I know that my children will find peace and happiness as I fulfill my role. The Christmas season brings tender feelings into my heart, reminding me of those that really matter because Christmas is in fact an act of love and service from my Savior. It is a celebration of His birth to fulfill Heavenly Father's plan. In Isaiah 9:6 we read For unto us a ^achild is ^bborn, unto us a ^cson is given: and the ^dgovernment shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, ^eCounsellor, The ^fmighty ^gGod, The ^heverlasting Father, The Prince of ⁱPeace.