Merry Christmas!!!

my favorite question that always comes up around this time of year is: wait, do you celebrate christmas?? this is normally followed with: of course, I'm Christian. which then is followed with: but i thought you were mormon?? i just laugh. Yes, but Mormon's are Christians too. I always give the example of: a flower is a plant, but not all plants are flowers. catholics, mormons, protestants, are all christians, but not all christians are catholics, mormong, portestants. But that question always makes me laugh.
I love Christmas. It is just such a wonderful season. Full of love, joy, happiness. I wish that everyone could just stop for a moment in their lives and realize just how wonderful life really is. We are always so caught up in our lives, that when Christmas comes, we take a second to breath, wish each other a Happy Holidays, and then keep on rushing on with our pointless lives. They are only pointless if we can not appreciate the love that is in them, or the people. Sometimes we really do need to stop and smell the roses. This is a reason why God had to create the Sabbath Day, in Order to stop us. We rush around in our lives, going from store to store, job to home, work to bed, all in the hope that we will be successful, but we can't seem to see that the only way we can become truely successful is by working hard, but being able to rest and play just as hard. Look around the mall at this time of year, and everyone is so stressed: finding the perfect present, what if they dont like it, how much money do i have, can i afford this. I get stressed just by thinking about it. I beg you, just stop. It shouldn't matter what is under the tree, but who you are spending time with, Not what is on the table, but who is around the table. we get so caught up in the technicalities of STUFF, that we just can't seem to wrap our heads around the idea that, it really doesn't matter. They don't need the present you are giving them, but the love that should be behind it. Everyone just needs someone to love, and be loved in return. I think that is the important part. Reminding each person that they are loved back. it is so disappointing giving someone a gift, and then not receiving anything in return, not because of the gift, but because your love was not returned.
Love someone this holiday, because you might be the one returning the love.