With Christmas in just a few days, the feelings of joy and family rush over us. The holidays are a great time to spend time with your family, the ones that are close and possibly that ones that are normally far. Even when you can’t spend time with relatives far away, Christmas cards are a way to feel close to the ones we love.

Now, I’m not talking about the store-bought cards that signed and sent. Even though sometimes it’s the thought that counts, they can seem impersonal. What I’m talking about are the cards with photos or extended letters. As we collect cards at my house, we tape them up to the wall right at our front door to look at when we go in and out of the house. It adds a nice decoration and reminder that Christmas is about family.

We always send a card with highlight photos from the year and a letter explaining what each of us is up to. Sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly can make creating festive photo collages easy. Sometimes with very distant relatives, it’s good to put a face to a name when you haven’t seen them in a while. My mom writes our letter every year and sometimes it gets pretty vulnerable. She lays down most things that we’re struggling with, nothing TMI, but things that people can pray for us for. She updates distant relatives on what year each of us are in school and what we are studying or planning to study because that changes with the week sometimes.

Not only is sending this type of letter good for people to receive and keep up with others’ lives, I would imagine that it would be a good type of reflection for yourself to look back on the highlights of the year. It’s a good way to reflect on all the good things that have happened or the things that made us stronger throughout the year.

Seeing all of the smiling faces of family and friends on my walls reminds me that even though life gets hard, the Christmas season can lift all of our spirits. On Christmas, everything can seem okay.

Merry Christmas!