Practicing Christmas

Growing up, my brothers and I would practice Christmas morning. Not sure what motivated us to do this – I can’t imagine any child forgetting how to do it – but just to be sure, we would practice. The rules were:
1. First one up wakes everybody up.
2. Get Mom and Dad up.
3. Rip ‘em apart.
We’d run through the drill several times in the days leading up to Christmas morning. And sure enough, when the big day came, we were perfect.

It’s true – we do get better at the things we practice. So I sometimes wonder why we don’t practice Christmas all year. At Christmas, we take treats to our neighbors and send cards to faraway friends. At Christmas, we give to the hungry and to the homeless. At Christmas, we make sure that all children have warm clothing to wear and toys to play with. At Christmas we make it a point to spend time with our families. And at Christmas we tend to focus more on our blessings and less on our troubles.

I am honored to be of service to SI of Salt Lake – whose members truly practice Christmas year round. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!