That Beautiful Christmas Feeling... :D

Merry Christmas! :D 

Decorations are up! The tree is lit. I have beautiful lit garland in the window... :) Christmas music is in the air (as well as lots of other good music about Christ; Christian music is a year round enjoyment of mine)...

 Ah.... it is Christmas time! :D

Yet, these do not guarantee to make the season feel like Christmas...

I recall going through this feeling (or lack of it) several times in the past. Always, the feelings of Christmas in the air would come - not immediately, with mere decorations and shopping... but Christmas would come as I would find it in my heart to go about doing good - serving, and bringing Christmas to others. Service is something that try to do all year. Sometimes I get busy and feel sad to think I am not doing enough. When I am serving, I feel close to my Savior and can feel his love for me, and then I just feel SO HAPPY! :D

Christmas Celebrations seem to become more and more simple at our house each year... This year my husband and I have shopped, decorated, listened to Christmas music, and watched a couple of Christmas movies. Sometimes, even when I do "Christmas" activities, I still doesn't FEEL that super awesome DEEP and HAPPY feeling of Christmas... 

When this happens, I do not despair, however! I know the cause as well as the remedy... :)

All the traditions we do CAN bring the feeling, or they can NOT bring the feeling of Christmas... when they bring our thoughts to Christ.... 

Year after year I have repeated Christmas traditions. Sometimes I do it without much thought, simply going through the motions. Other times, my heart and mind are so caught up in the experience that it becomes something immensely meaningful - something that fills my heart and mind with love, joy, and wonder! :)

And isn't that the point of Christmas traditions? ...to bring our thoughts to Christ and remind us of His gifts to all the world? To fill our hearts with gladness - To remember and rejoice in the fact that we are so completely loved and understood by our Savior? - And to remember and be thankful to God, that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can repent, be forgiven of our sins, and become more like Him?

This is the reason we feel so happy at Christmas time. The Joy and Happiness of Christmas - comes into our lives, as we think about our Savior and fill our hearts and lives with gratitude, love, appreciation, and a desire to serve our fellowmen as he does...

...Our family started out with so many traditions years ago. It seems that Christmas comes faster with each passing year, and that each year we seem to lose yet another another Christmas tradition. But as time goes on I remember and cherish the ones that bring that amazing happiness and light me up from the inside out; during these moments I say to myself, "yeah... this is it. This is what Christmas is!" These are the traditions I treasure and keep. So many others seem to be forgotten and drop off the list as time grows short and Christmas sneaks up on our family. As long as they are not our Christ focused traditions, I'm OK with it - It is Christ, that makes the season so beautiful and magical... 

This year it seems my family and I are doing very little in the way of traditions and it bugs me! However, something BETTER is happening, not at all something most would consider as a Christmas activity to make a tradition out of; and yet I think it may be one of the finest things to do with our time, especially this time of year to honor our Lord and Savior... 

Yes, by far, the best thing my family and I are doing this Christmas season is something we do year round... sharing testimony of Jesus Christ - This season I share it most with an incredible young woman. She is attending church with our family now, and I am so excited about all the things that she is learning and the questions she has had for so long which are now being answered! (I'm SO happy and excited for her!) :) I love her sweet spirit, and love for Jesus Christ! :) I feel the spirit of Christmas when I talk to others about our Savior's plan of happiness!

I don't know if your season is filled with the marvel of Christmas and a myriad of activities, or if your season is quiet; but whatever activities come (or don't this year,  I hope your Christmas season is filled with the love and happiness of Jesus Christ! :) 

Merry Christmas!

Corine :D

PS. Perhaps The only "Christmas" traditions that truly matter are the ones that focus on Christ!

God Bless - Thankful Hearts...

Hi friends! :) I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration! :D We all have so much to be thankful for!

I will soon share photos and stories of my life as of late (and soon reveal my new blog that I will soon create! :D), but today I have gratitude in my heart that needs to be expressed... so here I am again on this old blog! ;)

I love my life! :D - My life is so good! :) I am really enjoying life to the fullest! 

There was a time (a phase, you could say) when I focused on what life didn't give me. That was frustrating! No matter how many great things there were in life, I would still have moments in which the things I didn't have - got me down - a lot. And some of them were really big losses; it was a struggle.

One day the Lord said to me (during this very hard time when I was experiencing struggles which seemed too much to bear), "Be happy, despite your less than ideal circumstances." Because I knew it was the Lord speaking to my heart, I finally realized, 

...It must be possible - to CHOOSE happiness!  :)

I learned that a person doesn't have to have certain things they deem necessary for a happy life (or have certain things go their way) to be happy. A person simply needs to CHOOSE happiness, by choosing to be thankful for the many daily blessings from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Some may suppose that I only believe this because I must have, whatever it is they lack which they suppose one needs to be happy. But I know this - that the things which I once supposed I needed to be happy - I learned to be happy without - and that which I knew I needed, I learned to have faith I would one day have in the Lord's good time...

Some of the key factors that helped me to choose happiness included making the choice to accept the things I can't change and to focus only on the things I can change. 

Another was to choose to be thankful for everything - the good, and the not so good (which I knew God could turn into a blessing to me so long as I loved and served him). 

No more would I feel sorry for myself... I would count ALL experiences and all situations as blessings. 

I would remember why I was here on Earth and what my Father in Heaven desired for me to learn and be blessed to become as a result of every single experience - or lack thereof... 

Before I learned to be thankful for everything, I supposed that I had little in certain ways; after I choose to choose to be thankful for everything I discovered that I had SO MUCH! 

As life goes on, I am continually more thankful for my life. I am continually amazed that the challenges which I once saw as misfortunes, I now see as opportunities for learning and growth. I am not overwhelmed, but rather, I'm excited for the opportunities to overcome and learn and grow! :D And I realize that for everything I don't have which others have, I have something which others lack. I believe this is true for us all! And I have SO MUCH. I truly do. My life is so Abundantly Blessed! :)

Heavenly Father has blessed and continues to bless each and every one of his children in a multitude of ways. All we need to do to be happy, is to LOVE Him, as well as our Savior, Jesus Christ... and to LOOK for, and BE THANKFUL for - the MANY blessings they give to us - each and every day...

Here are a couple links to articles I read which got me thinking about gratitude and happiness. They really uplifted and inspired me! :) Perhaps they will uplift and inspire you, too...

Someone Else is Thankful For Less Than What You Have... 

Photo taken from one of my blogging friends (Thanks Keith! :D)- linked above...

Seeing is believing: Doctor, family say Centerville man's sight restoration 'a miracle' - Amazing and beautiful story of hope and faith! And of a man and his wife, who choose to focus on what they have, and have to gain - despite great struggles...

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors - A blog post written by the wife of the man written about above - A story of hope and faith that Jesus Christ can and will do - what the Doctors insist they can not do...

Wishing you all a wonderful and beautiful life of gratitude! 

Corine :D