All I want for Christmas is...

"It's Christmas time and time for a carol time to sing a lovely little tune..." Carpenters Christmas carol, I love that song and I love this time of year; the feeling in the air, the smells of cinnamon and pine trees, the fun Christmas parties, and the gifts!!! :) It is such a special time, one where we remember family and friends, and most importantly our Savior! It is his love, and his gift that we remember and give praise to during this time of year  and I love it! I'm just truly grateful for my Savior and his atonement; it is that is which allows us to change, progress and return to him. As my Bishop said last night, "if we didn't celebrate Easter, we wouldn't celebrate Christmas!" Meaning, if it weren't for the atonement, we wouldn't be celebrating Christ's birth!
At this Christmas time I implore that we remember why we celebrate Christ, it is because through his atonement we can gain hope; a hope of becoming greater, a hope of progressing, a hope of forgiveness, and that hope will lead to action, to faith, and to repentance. And what is repentance really? It's just change, a change for the better, a returning to penitence for the Lord. If we view repentance simply as change, then it's not so daunting! It can be simple small changes at first that build up to us becoming a more Christ centered people. That's something that has helped me so much in my life, all we have to do is choose today to do those simple things like, pray, read our scriptures, and remember our Savior and his perfect example. Those simple things will lead to change, and to improvement, I've seen it in my life, and although I'm FAR from perfect,... I'm happier, and that's part of what the atonement is about!

So for this Christmas I hope that we will remember our Savior, and his atoning sacrifice, that beautiful gift that he gave for us! I hope that we will strive to make him a bigger part of our lives, and that we will follow his example of perfect love, and reach out to those in need.

Just a thought... :)