Making Christmas Last

When I was little, I felt that Christmas just didn’t last long enough. You wake up early, empty your stocking, open presents, and by 10 in the morning it’s all over! The rest of the day seems just like any other, except you have a new movie to watch or a new game to play.

Of course, I knew what Christmas was really about; I’d heard the Christmas story with the star, the angels, the shepherds, and the Wise Men many times. But it wasn’t until recently that I started to think past the morning of presents to the rest of Christmas.

Last Christmas was the turning point. My brother was on his mission, and we were all anxiously waiting for the opportunity to talk to him. My parents and I still opened presents, but the best part of the day was later when I got to hear my brother’s voice and talk to him. That’s when I learned that for me, Christmas is about family, the people I get to spend eternity with. By spending a day doing things together, beyond the opening of presents, we celebrate one of the reasons Christ was born.

I was mistaken when I was younger. Christmas doesn’t end when the last present is unwrapped. For me, that’s now when it starts, because that’s when we get to start spending the day talking to, being with, and learning about each other.