I am a big fan of Christmas. My boyfriend has even taken to calling me "Miss Christmas", which is pretty accurate. My favorite genre of movie is Christmas, my favorite composer is Tchaikovsky, and I go crazy for peppermint flavored everything. It's my favorite time of year, for sure. I look forward to it more than I look forward to my birthday. I have traditions that if they don't happen, I don't feel like it's Christmas. It's easy to get wrapped up in all the aspects of Christmas.

But you can't let yourself get so caught up. It's good to get excited about gift-giving, about eating cookies and delicious meals. But at the end of the day I need to remember the true meaning of Christmas- to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth. Because without the true meaning, there is no value or point in anything else.

Whenever I feel like I am losing sight of what Christmas is really about, I like to imagine how I would feel if I were really there when Jesus was born. I like to channel the excitement of the wisemen and the shepherds (once they got over being scared out of their minds), to try to feel what they would feel. I find that it's not that difficult to do. Before Jesus was born, His people were filled with unrest. Things looked grim and dark, hopeless even. But there was still hope that a Savior would come to relieve suffering.

I also like to imagine what it would be like to be Mary. She was so so young, younger than I am right now. To be told by an angel that not only was she pregnant, but pregnant with God's child, well, that would be pretty unbelievable to hear! Sometimes I catch myself wondering, "why her?" Wasn't she pretty plain and insignificant? Then I slap myself, because that's the most ridiculous thing I could ever think. God knew exactly what He was doing.

That's what Christmas means to me. It reminds me that ultimately God knows what he's doing and is in control of everything, including me. Christmas is a time when someone can easily feel out of control, with all the distractions and all the details that need to come into place. But it's a reminder to calm down and realize what Christmas is really about. A time to realize everything is all right because God still reigns.

So it's nice to enjoy all things Christmas. The movies, the music, the food. Enjoy them as much as you want (I know I sure do). I'm watching a Christmas movie as I write this, thinking about how I want to have my mom's special Christmas Eve Dinner right now. But at the end of the day, Christmas is Jesus's birthday. And a reminder that there is still hope and always will be.