in preparation for my talk i thought back on a lesson we had in relief society before i received my calling to serve in the nursery. the lesson was about Christmas and the teacher opened up the class for input as to what it was that everyone loves about Christmas. essentially i made a list of things that are generally enjoyed about Christmas and talked about my experiences with it. i then talked about how that can be made an every day thing thus incorporating the spirit of Christmas into your everyday life. i never write out my talks word for word, but here is the outline i had - with a little bit added to make it better for the blog :)
Keep Christ alive all year – keep Christmas with you
What do people love about Christmas?
- Being with family
o Growing up – caroling, trip to see temple lights, Christmas Eve party, Christmas morning
o We know that the family is central to our Father’s plan; it’s important to spend time and develop relationships now with people we strive to be with for eternity; FHE,family prayer, family scripture study, family dinner every night, just spending time together
- Being with friends
o Growing up - family Christmas party and inviting friends, friends at Christmas Eve party
o Heavenly Father puts great people into our lives to help us all the time; similarly we can be used to bless others’ lives as well; spending time with friends helps us build relationships whether it be friends from church, work, or the community. Life gets busy, but it's important to make time for friends
- Time of giving
o Growing up - Family tradition of focusing on the giving of gifts on Christmas morning
o Giving helps us focus on the needs of others rather than ourselves - it breeds selflessness, we need to give of our time, talents, and love, we need to take time to give service to others
- Time of receiving
o Growing up - Fun to get gifts from people you know love you, family tradition of being big on surprises - fun to see what the people in the family think you’d enjoy
o Think of all the blessings you receive every day – show gratitude for those blessings. When you look at things in the right perspective you realize how many gifts you’re being given every single day from a Father who loves you
- Music
o Growing up - The Spirit of Christmas music – Christmas music being played at home months before the holiday, caroling as I mentioned, singing hymns Christmas a.m., Christmas program at church
o Christmas songs bring joy and share a beautiful message. Listen to music all year that brings the same feelings of happiness and light
- Feeling of love
o Growing up - Christmas affords a chance to focus more on others – concerts we used to do for widows on Christmas day. Love is what you feel when you take a minute on Christmas morning and just sit back and see the smiles and feel the happiness. That incredible Christmas feeling that everyone enjoys so much is love
o Help people know each day that they are loved. The feeling will be returned. Be still and feel God’s love even in your hectic daily schedules
- Seeing people happy
o Growing up - focusing so much on others at Christmas in an effort to spread happiness. Whether it’s you that made them happy or someone else, it feels nice to see others smiling and feeling happy about something in their life
o People seem to have a lot more reasons to be happy around the holidays – give people reasons to be happy every day
- Focus on Christ
o Growing up - not putting baby Jesus into the nativity on Christmas morning and pausing to do that and sing hymns before opening presents. Christmas is all about Jesus Christ – without Him we wouldn’t have anything to celebrate.
o Make sure you’re making the weekly Sacrament about Christ, strive to be more like him each day, learn of Him and follow His example. make each day about Christ
I would have enjoyed being there to hear it! Drats! Christmas has always been a time of year I loved! Love you --
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