Gingerbread Houses, Snow Globes and Stockings

Haven't we all heard that Christmas is for the children? As we hang our stockings by the fire and gently unwrap each snow globe, excitement floods into our heart with memories of childhood where all things are possible, where miracles really do happen.

We tell ourselves that we carry on the traditions for the children, that we bake the cookies, hang the garland on the tree and stir the marshmellows into our steaming hot cup of cocoa, all for them. We want to hold onto our family's traditions; generation to generation passing along these treasured classics like the passing of the olympic torch. Family is everything, being together as one during this season is one of humankind's greatest desires.

When we say Christmas is for the children, do we really mean it is for all of us to feel like children again? Do we all have inside of us, a yearning to be a child again with all the imagination and magic that comes stirring into our hearts and minds during the holiday season?

I sit here pondering the source of this desire for childhood. Perhaps it is because we wish to remember the true meaning of Christmas; the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Remembering him means remembering that he is our Father and we are his children. Are there any more tender accounts of Jesus Christ then when he gathers the children around him? We can all be his children and so celebrating the true meaning of Christmas does make us children again. Our desire for family during this season stems from our desire to be HIS family, to be one with him, through the at-one-ment.

When we think of the magic of Christmas, are we reminded of the magic of his birth as the Son of God or that healed the sick and made the blind to see? Does setting up the snowglobes with their distant scenes, or tasting the candy canes with their red and white stripes remind us of Him? It is he who truly IS the magic of Christmas. He is the one who has made the impossible possible. It is He who has done what no other man could do. He has offered us salvation. He has given us the resurrection. He is our shepherd who's red blood and white spirit has been spilt for us, his children.

So as we think of doing it all for the children, perhaps we should we remember that these traditions and magic are to remind us, as well as our children, of Him and that we can be children once again, His children through his birth and through his sacrifice.

It really is magic, the magic of all that he has done for us to make us part of his family once again. So as we bake and design our gingerbread house, perhas we should think of making our house or home with him. As we think of seeing inlaws, and cousins, and great grandmom's and our reunion with them, we should ponder on being reunited with our Savior Jesus Christ, who has made all the magic possible.

Merry Christmas!