Christmastime, the season for giving. During this time of year, everyone is out shopping for gifts to give to their loved ones. People stress out over finding the perfect gift to give to each person. And then we all get excited about what we find under the tree. But the real gift comes from watching your loved ones open up that special hand-picked gift you got for them.

Although giving gifts to my family is fun, and I get a warm feeling inside when they open them, for me, I get more out of giving to those that are in greater need than myself, or even my family. I find that to give me a satsifying feeling. My family usually fills Letters to Santa through the high school and knowing that children that normally wouldn't be recieveing gifts are going to be getting a gift this Christmas is what brings me the greatest joy.

I love this season! I could do without the snow (except on Christmas day), but I love the holiday! Thankfullness. Hope. Joy. Giving. And in turn, LOVE!!! Merry Christmas!!!

Joy

I do not know if there is a greater emotion than pure joy. And at the same time, I do not believe that pure joy lasts long. Instead it comes in spirts. It swoops in, overtakes our body, and then quickly leaves. Yet in those moments, when pure joy can be felt, it is overwhelming; it is breathtaking. I feel that as we get older, those moments of pure joy deplete, because we our image of the world get clouded. There is always outside factors that take away from our ability to experience that feeling. What I believe is so fantastic about the Christmas season is that it allows everyone to step out of their own life, if only for a moment, and be a child again. And in doing so, we again get to experience the feeling of pure joy, as children so often do. This is what I look most foreward to, during this season. The magic and the joy that comes along. My hope for this Christmas is that we all get to experience pure joy, as children do. Or for those that have children, that watching your children experience pure joy, brings you pure joy as well. God Bless!

Hope

Hope...a glorious feeling it can be. Often times around this time of year, it is the story of Jesus and his birth that bring hope to the world. Although this is still true, for me, hope is also taking a new meaning. As I have shared this past year has not been a fantastic one, and I am definately ready for it to be over. And to top it all off, my mom and brother got in a car accident today. Just the cherry on top of an already horrible year. They are both completely fine, but I find myself mad, furious really, for the situation. I know everything happens for a reason, that everything is in God's plan for our life. So in this season, I find myself relying on hope...for the future. Hope that God will show me the lesson, will make me aware of the reason for why everything this year has gone awry. It is my hope that next year will be a better one, God willing. Or even in the case that it is not, it is my hope that God will use my experiences to better those around me and to make a difference in this world, or at least in the lives of others.

Thankfulness

The Christmas season is upon us, with Christmas just around the corner. I am in awe of how quickly it arrived. Labored it was, but it is here, faster than I could have imagined. With this time of year comes a state of mind, at least for me, of giving, hope, joy, and thankfulness. Obviously this state of mind has had me questioning myself alot recently, especially tonight. The next few posts I would like to center around these four characteristics for I feel they hold much importance, not only to the season, but in life. I will begin with thankfulness, for it has been on my heart tonight.

In September, or maybe it was October, I wrote a piece (not on here) about being ready for the year to be over. I was done with 2010. I did not know how I was going to make it through the months still ahead. By September, I had already endured a transfer of schools, a horrible semester with a frustrating professor, the unexpected death of my aunt, a couple of interesting family trips, an eventful week with one of my best friends which almost had me being admitted to the hospital, the death of my cousin, a horrendous two weeks of being terribly sick, the start of a new semester of classes, and at the time I was starting to get sick again. I have never been as emotionally unpredictable in my life, as I have been in the last year. God has pressed me to my wicks end many times. I am not going to say that I enjoyed this year and that I would want to do it over again, but I will say that I grew immensely in many different ways. These experiences have strengthened and deepened my relationship with God; they have provided me with a greater knowledge about the field I am going into; and they have taught be how to be more proactive in my own life. For that I am thankful.


I am also eternally greatful and thankful for my mom. There is no way I could ever repay her for everything she has done for me in my life. She is the reason I am still living today! Some know, many do not, but during my junior year of high school I dealt with a severe bout of depression. I doubted everything that had to do with God (though I was pretty good at hiding it) and I often felt like suidcide was a viable option. It was only my mom's strength and dedication to getting me through the rough patch that saved my life. She sat down with me every single day, without fail, to talk, to make sure I was okay. Words cannot ever express how greatful I am for her love and strength.



So, in this season of good cheer, that I what I am most thankful for.

My momma and me