Archive for December, 2009

Christmas preparation and a new marriage

We talk about Christmas, prepare for Christmas and work ourselves to the bone trying to bake, shop and generally create the ‘perfect’ christmas.  I would like to take a few moments to think about the spirit of Christmas and what it means in my world.  I find that the spirit of Christmas is the gratitude and the joy that we all can share around this time.  It’s the love of friends, the joy in a child’s face or even the joy in a loved one’s face when you find that perfect present or the perfect thank you.

I have often found that the spirit of Christmas can be lost in the materialism that surrounds Christmas.  One of the things that I was taught as a child is how to create a Gratitude List.  Granted it’s something I learned in Sunday School, however, I have found that it is applicable in life no matter your religious beliefs.  The general principle is that you sit down and think about all the things in your life that you’re grateful for.   As a child I’m pretty sure my stuffed animals made the list, or a kind word at school etc.  This year my gratitude list is huge and each item is a major life changing event.  A wedding to a beautiful man, a new home, a life that includes art, my own business that is making a profit… if a small one and the list keeps going.

In a world where so many people lack basic freedoms, we not only have freedom we have the option of doing something with it.   So my question to you is… what is on your gratitude list this christmas?