The Christmas Spirit

Ready or not Christmas is around that corner. I'm not sure why, but this year it has taken me a little while to get into the spirit of things. Sort of bugs me because it is my one of my favorite times of the year. Perhaps it is just because life tends to be so full these days and I haven't stopped to really ponder what is missing.

I have to say that I am so thankful for this past weekend though, because it really helped put me in the right mood. Saturday we went to the ward Christmas party at church. The program was great, and the food was good too! Santa even stopped by to say hello to the kids. Emery and Kelci are funny, they knew it was Brother Peterson dressed up like Santa. But they went along with everything anyway. I thought it was funny that Santa suggested that Emery get a bb gun for Christmas, and than used the old famous line no you better not, "you'll shoot your eye out." Of course she had no idea what he was talking about (yes we are that old now). Brody believes that Santa lives at the church now, he has been a lot of fun to watch this year with everything going on.

Sunday we had a great lesson in our Young Women's class, about the Saviors Love. Of course I have heard a lot of lessons on this topic, but what made this one so special was when some of the girls in our group stood up and shared with us a moment when they knew that had felt the Saviors love for them. They had wonderful experiences that strengthened my testimony. The kind of experiences I hope my children will have when they get older and are conquering highschool. The teacher shared a story about highschool and how she struggled for a time with self-esteem. She recalls feeling like some many of her friends were better in sports, prettier, smarter, etc. So she decided that she wasn't any of those things and that was ok, she was a daughter of God though. She decided she would strive to be the nicest person, and that is what she became good at. She became the person that would say hello to anyone, fellowship the lonely, and even try her best to not judge others, but just love them. It was an uplifting lesson and just filled my heart with the spirit of Christmas.