I choose to be part of the stable few...

 
There is a great deal to think about this time of year. Our lives are busy, we are seeking the perfect gift for our loved ones, we have had terrorist attacks on our homeland soil. But, are we thinking about what is most important? Which crowd are you choosing to be a part of. I am trying hard to hold our focus this season on Christ most often. I know that Santa will make his way into our focus as we get closer to Christmas but I hope we can all strive to remember which crowd you have chosen to be a part of and why this choice is so important.

A Christ like Christmas

As the Christmas season is upon us I, as a parent, strive each year to instill in my children the spirit of a Christ like attitude. This is something that is not easy but I find that each year as we experience the First Presidency devotional, read the magazines put out by our church and also as we study our scriptures we are shown many opportunities to be more Christ like. I struggle with the fact that we are more giving at the end of the year, during winter, than we are any other time of the year.

I was able to spend a great weekend with my family. We ate lots of food, we watched holiday movies and went on shopping adventures. I wonder how normal this is for many in our country. I wonder if we are doing too much or spending too much money. I was recently reading the December 2015 issue of the Ensign. I noticed that both the First Presidency message and the message directly following that spoke of giving of oneself. This costs nothing I thought, I can do this. Then, I began to come up with all kinds of reasons why I didn’t have the time. Our time is our most precious commodity. This is what is most precious and this is what we need to strive to spend more carefully. We need to make sure that our times spent is spent on something worthwhile like time with a child helping them learn or visiting with a loved one. We need to spend less time sitting aimlessly in front of the television or electronic devices and more time with those we care the most about. This is how we can be more Christ like. We need to be more generous with our time with those we love and less generous with our time doing things that isolate us or keep us from our loved ones. Having a Christ like attitude is what can bring us the joy we are seeking most days and can carry us through our despair that sometimes drags us down. I have attached a couple of articles that I read this weekend that really inspired this post. May your heart be filled with Christ’s love.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/12/make-time-for-the-savior?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/12/a-gift-of-life-and-love?lang=eng