The Real Meaning of Christmas

Ok so we have about a week till Christmas, and everyone is rushing to plan, and buy presents and we are all super busy..I mean it's the holidays who isn't busy. But what if we all stopped for a second, forgot about presents, and planning and just thought about the real reason we celebrate Christmas? On Christmas Day Jesus was born! Now just think about that for a moment how much do we acknowledge the real meaning of Christmas? I mean planning dinner, and having people over, and giving others presents that's all important but the Christmas season is a time of waiting and preparing ourselves for the coming of the Savior. In this last week before Christmas take a moment and stop to look at all the joy Christmas brings people, and thank God because he is the reason for all the joy in the world.

This time of year is probably the best time of year for everyone because we get a bunch of presents just because it's Christmas. It's great to get presents and everything but I think it's even better to give presents. On Thursday a friend of mine reminded me that the real joy of Christmas is found in giving to others. So, I got this really good friend of mine a gift and I also gave her a card, and when she opened her present she was so happy. The look on her face and the excitement in her voice just melted my heart, it made me realize why giving is such a good thing. When we give we make someone else happy, and we sacrifice for them, but in turn we also get something which is the joy of seeing how happy they are, and their excitement. We shouldn't be giving to get recognition back, but we should be giving to make them happy, and in turn giving ourselves the joy of seeing them happy.

God Bless,

Sarah

Why?

Why? This is probably the most frequent question we ask God right? Why are bad things happening, why did this happen, and so on. I've been through enough deaths of family members, but for me it is worse to watch a close friend morn over their relative. We don't know God's plan, but what we can have faith and trust in is that everything that happens is for our own good. When someone close to us dies it just means that God has called them home, but it doesn't mean God is mad at us or that he wants to take them away from us. Too often we think God is always out there trying to get us to mess up, or become depressed, but that in reality is the devil doing that. God is doing the exact opposite he wants us to be happy to know our relatives are with him, he loves us so much, that he makes sure his plan for us fits our personal needs. Sometimes we meet people for certain reasons either to help them or for them to help us and this is all part of his plan for us! God loves us and he doesn't want us to be depressed because an event has happened in our life, he wants us to trust him to trust his love, and to know him personally. Recently my grandma died and let's just say we didn't really have the closest relationship towards the end of her life, but by trusting God I got peace that she was with him, and that she loved me and was watching over me. All I had to do was trust the God of the universe, who loves me, and when I did that my life changed I stopped worrying I stopped becoming depressed, and I started to become happy, and people began to notice.

God, I pray for everyone who has died during this 2016 year, for my grandma, for my friend's grandfather, for my friend's great grandfather, for my friend's father, and for anyone else who has died this year. Please give all those who are morning peace.

Here is "I Need You" by OBB.

God Bless,

Sarah