With the holidays here, it's sometimes easy to forget why Christmas is so important. We get so wrapped up (literally) in the gifts that we receive and give, the days that we don't have much to do so we sleep in until the afternoon, and all of the Christmas lights all over town.

I love giving people gifts.

I love sleep...who doesn't?

I sometimes...or a lot of times...freak out when I see Christmas lights when I drive through town at night because I love them so much.

But above all of this, the time I get to spend with my friends and family still somehow beats it all. The seemingly endless nights spent catching up with my best friends. The laughs about anything and everything with family. Spending all of that energy I got from sleeping in on chasing my cousin around on Christmas day, and seeing all of the joy on his face when he opens those Christmas presents. I love the spirit of Christmas, how everyone is filled with so much joy and happiness...and I wonder why it isn't that way all year.

The only difference between Christmas and the rest of the year is simply that: it has a special title. Sure, we also celebrate the birth of Jesus in a more elaborate way, but why can't we do that all the time? Christmas isn't the only time Jesus fills us with joy.

He fills us with joy each and every day after we choose to believe that God sent Him to die for our sins, so we can spend eternity with Him, not just during the holidays.

He gives us hope each and every day, even when things get really hard, not just around Christmas.

He shows us how to love people by the relationships we have and grow each and every day, not just showing us how to love because it's Christmas and we're suppose to be nice.

This is why I love Christmas. The joy. The love. The laughter. The hope. Things we see each and every day, taken to a new level. And it's Christmas that makes me wonder why every single day can't be like that.