The First of December

Here it is the first part of December and I am trying desperately to be ahead of the game when it comes to Christmas. I am trying to keep it simple and again here comes the Choice part. We can choose to fall in with all the hype of Christmas and do what the media and society thinks, or we can and center our celebration on why we really celebrate Christmas
I was trying to think of something to send to my son on his mission that would bring the reason for the holiday into his life without a lot of clutter that he would have to deal with if he got transferred. While discussing this with one of my daughters she suggested a sort of advent activity. With that in mind I called all his sisters and asked that they, along with their husbands write a little something to him, their testimonies, feeling about him serving a mission etc. I collected these along with some stories about his Grandparents and some Christmas stories. I put each one in an envelope and marked each one with a day so that he could open one every morning. I hope he liked it and will be able to see how much the gospel means to all of us.
I am teaching a lesson this Sunday at church and it is about creating a Christ centered Christmas. I have done a lot of soul searching trying to see if my choices are bringing me closer to this goal or if I am getting caught up in all the madness. I have come to the conclusion that I need to work harder to stay focused on Christ. In preparing my lesson I pulled out an Advent activity that me sister- in- law gave me a few years ago and that I shared with my ward sisters when I was the relief society pres. It gives you a different spiritual activity to do each day of Dec. along with a scripture and song. It is a great activity. I also found an activity that gives all the Book of Mormon references to the birth of Christ. One thing poem I sent to my son was about what Samuel the Lamanite said in his prophecy about the birth of Christ.
I think we all need to ask ourselves if our Choices during this time of year will bring us closer to Christ. I admit some of my choices need some fine tuning. I am bound and determined to bring my thoughts closer to the true meaning of Christmas. I am going to look for opportunities to act in His name, to be an instrument in His hands and to Serve. There is such a need if we will just make the Choice to follow the promptings that we receive and to be aware of those around us.