Tis the Season...

It is my goal to not be a scrooge this season and try really hard to remember why we are really celebrating Christmas.

Last year James' cousin Monte Shelley and his sweet wife Elona sent us this book he wrote. We read part of it for FHE last night and it really reminded me why we celebrate and how some of the traditions that seem so commercialized really do point to Christ if we change our focus on how we view them.

Here are a few that I love that connect Santa to Christ:

*Santa dresses in red (atonement) and white (purity). When Christ comes again, he "shall be red in his apparel (D&C 133:48-51).

*He ascends into and descends from heaven (3 Nephi 11:8; 18:39).

*His coming is in the night "as a thief" who enters not by the door (D&C 106:4, 1 Thes. 5:2, John 10:1; 20:19)

*He invites little children to come unto him (3Nephi 17:11, 21)

*Little children believe in him.

*We are invited to become as little children.

*He knows if you've been bad or good.

*He rewards every person according to his works.

*We don't get everything we ask for.

*We are not always grateful for the gifts we receive.

*Santa gives children unearned gifts that they cannot get without him. Christ offers us the unearned gifts of immortality and eternal life.

If you are interested in this wonderful book, they have it available at this website: http://www.sviewp.com/

We hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season celebrating the birth of our Savior.