Christmas lemons or Christmas lemonade?

As soon as the Thanksgiving mess is cleaned up, I turn on the Christmas music! I love the Christmas season! To me, it is a time of giving, a time of caring for others, a time of gathering with loved ones, a time of getting closer to our God, a time of magic! I love to see the anticipation and the magic in the eyes of the children. The wonderful story of the birth of Jesus in a humble stable is retold and seeds of hope are again planted in the hearts of many people.

In this tough economy, many of us are more limited as to what we can buy, or what we can do for Christmas. Maybe we can take these lemons and make lemonade! Perhaps we could make our Christmas giving more personal by giving more of ourselves. We can write a special note to someone telling them what we appreciate about them. We can volunteer to help with a project or perform a service for someone. We can take the children to the park for a picnic instead of buying them a gift that will be broken by the end of the day. There are so many things we can do that cost little or no money and that will mean more to the person receiving them than a gift purchased at Macy's! We can use this opportunity to get closer to the true spirit of Christmas.

I hope that the Christmas season will bring each of you peace and joy!