I think most people find Christmas a really special time. It may be different for many. When I was younger it was probably the excitement of the gifts, Christmas morning etc. But as I've got older the gifts don't tend to bother me anymore.

I love the family times we have, in the front room every night around the fire. Reading stories, playing family games, watching a film. Then there's going to carol services, candlelight and the pretty decorations. The Christmas story, which I never tire of hearing. It's also a really good time to witness; I don't believe Jesus was born at Christmas time, however it's still an amazing opportunity to talk to people, I think their hearts can be really open at this time of year.

So what makes is special for you?

For me, Christmas serves as that special reminder of the greatest gift that was ever given. Also a highlight for me is the family gatherings and being able to be with people I haven't seen in a long time.

*sigh* My Christmases aren't the happiest...

We usually have the Christmas story, either read by my Daddy or at church if Christmas is a Sunday like this year. We open stockings first. Then I clear and set the table for breakfast, which is usually something like egg casserole.
We open presents later. And at different times we walk across the street and tell my aunts merry Christmas. It's a time for family and friends as well as realising the true reason for the season - Jesus.

I love it when we get to see all Dad's family from America and Australia, although I don't think there'll be any here this Christmas.



*Sends Green a hug*



Egg casserole sounds interesting! It is indeed, I love that fact that Christmas is a big family time theme.

I love the time of visiting with relatives. I would do it without the presents though. In fact I would prefer not going to the trouble of getting me presents.

I think that what Christmas is mainly about is Giving, for several reasons, I like giving gifts a lot more than getting them, because it gives my a ton more joy. Also, the whole reason of Christmas, was because God gave his only son, to be born as a baby on earth, to later save us from our sins, so that's what Christmas means to me.

Hmm, what makes it special....

Well, on Christmas eve, usually we prepare some sort of special meal, and usually, like this year, the meal is all appetizers, Then we have the last Advent of the year, have Jesus's birthday cake, hang stockings, wrap presents, (which is a very lengthy process) and go to bed. In the morning, we open stockings, then gifts, then we have a breakfast of Tea and fruity bread with butter. Then, we usually clean up the wrappers, eat treats, eat lunch, and then we go to my Grandparent's house, with my 2 aunts and their families, but this year they will be out of town for Christmas, and so we don't know what we'll do.

Anyways, thanks for reading about my family's interesting traditions.

I am sorry, Green Mist. That is hard.

Yeah... my dad barely even pays attention to me on Christmas. He just watches TV while I open the presents.

That sounds a lot like my Christmases! My dad always reads the Christmas story, and he almost always finds something new to comment on, something that I'd never thought about before. Sometime before or after that, we open our stockings. Since my mom doesn't want to use up a lot of present labels, she chooses a special paper for each of us, wraps a small present in it, and puts it in our stocking so we we know which paper is ours.

After that, we always have amazing homemade cinnamon rolls and egg casserole. Sometime during breakfast my grandparents arrive, and then we open presents.

One of my favorite parts is getting presents for my siblings... I usually spend hours brainstorming what I want to get them. As far as getting presents, I just like spending the time with my family.

We usually have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, so that after such a crazy Christmas morning, we can all just relax and spend time together.



Oh, Misty... that is hard. *hugs*

*joins Mist's hug*
I can't imagine Christmas without my family...

We alternate Christmases so that one year, we have Christmas with my dad's family, and New Year's with my mum's side, and vice versa.
Christmas Eve, we go to the Candlelight service at church. I used to get all excited about getting to hold a candle all by myself.
Then we come home and open the presents that come from our immediate family. We put out cookies for Santa (my sisters are still little enough for that) and go to bed. We also check Norad tracks Santa -it's funny, really. They have little animated clips of Santa flying his sleigh around the world.

In the morning, we open stockings. We have to be all ready -dressed, etc. -before we can open them, and so my brother and I have to stay in the basement, and my sisters upstairs, so that we can't see what's in the stockings.
Then either we go to my grandparents' or the whole family comes here, and we spend the day playing games and making supper -the whole turkey feast. And the rest of the presents, from cousins, grandparents, etc. It's crazy -I have lots of cousins. Then we usually have Boxing Day together as well.

I'm really excited this year. I haven't seen my one cousin since last Christmas -she lives in Québec -and we're really close.

Who else finds that brothers are really hard to think up presents for?

I love that your Mother uses special paper for each one of you, Abbie.

Sounds like you have lots of fun, Aldara!

Me! My brother always comes up with the one thing that my parents won't get for him.
It's also hard to buy for cousins. My mother asks me what the normal teenage girl would like for Christmas. How am I supposed to know that?

I don't have a brother so I don't worry about that. I have a half-brother, but I don't see him very much.

Christ is what really makes it special for me. The gift He gave me is beyond words. Thank you Jesus for forgiving me. And here's my gift to Holy Worlds, a little something I wrote a while back...

The Black Stink Of Sin

Who are you? I can... I can feel you, somehow, looking upon this dark heart of mine with... love? Why? Why! Do you not know what I've done? Do you not know what I'm capable of? DO YOU KNOT KNOW WHAT I HAVE DONE? Answer me... please. HOW LOUD MUST I SHOUT FOR YOU TO ANSWER? I still feel only this sense of love from you. LOOK AT ME! LOOK INSIDE ME! LOOK INTO THIS HEART SO FULL OF SIN! Look into this heart so full of hate, greed, lust, pride, and murder and explain to me how you can love this... this... cursed dog of a man that I am! Wickedness am I... it literally oozes from my pores like a black oily sweat with the stench of decay! Look as it drips from my brow into my eyes... blinding me to anything but the sin that I cling to like a fearful child clings to his mother! How can you possibly love this wretched soul that I am? How? I AM CURSED!!! Cursed to hell one day! Can you take that away? Can you save me from Death's cold lifeless fingers dragging me down into the fires that await me... THE FATE I DESERVE?

I still feel this sense of love....
I STILL feel this sense of love.... and forgiveness.
Thank You

Romans 5:6-8
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Merry Christmas HW peoples

I agree.

My brothers are easy for me to shop for.