"Christmas is Always Remembering" (by Haley)

Christmas 2010

When I was a kid I loved to write songs. Don't worry, none of them were any good or ever got published, but at least I tried. Let me share part of one of the Christmas songs I wrote:

     Christmas is always remembering,

     Christmas is always remembering,

     Christmas is always remembering, yeah, yeah, yeah,

     It's loving, it's caring, it's loving, it's caring,

     Christmas is such a special time for everyone!

So... now you know why my songs never got published and why my siblings mocked me about my song writing "abilities". There is some truth to that song though, isn't there? Christmas is always remembering. 

What Christmas from years past sticks out to you? Was it the first one you experienced as a married couple? Was it your child's first Christmas? Was it when someone made a surprise visit on Christmas? It's not the gifts we get at Christmas that make it special, it's the feelings we have and share with others.

Christmas 2011

A Christmas that sticks out to me was when my family lived in Boise, Idaho. I don't remember exactly what year is was...probably when I was in a sophomore in high school (so 1999). My parents had arranged for us to all volunteer at a homeless shelter. We had never done anything like that before on Christmas Eve. At first we really didn't want to do it, but our hearts changed after being there about five minutes. When we left we all shared how much fun we had and how happy we felt. 

That evening we put together some Christmas goodie plates. My mom makes a mean chocolate fudge. We drove around on Christmas Eve night with our goodie plates looking for businesses that were opened and people who were working. We went to the fire department and to the vet and to the gas station. We sang the workers songs and gave them our goodie plates. It was so fun to see their faces and how much we had cheered them up that night.

Christmas 2012

I am 29 years old now and these are the memories that stick out the most to me. Not the awesome gifts I got, but the good feeling I had serving people on Christmas Eve. Make this year one of those memorable Christmases by doing good to others and focusing less on the gifts. That's really what Christmas is all about.

Christmas 2013