It seems like sometimes what we feel we need to do for Christmas gets more elaborate every year. Sometimes if we focus too much on what we’re giving to people and what we’re getting, we can lose the central theme of what Christmas is all about.

I can remember my mother telling me that when she was a little girl, what they got for Christmas was an orange, and they were very happy with that. I even remember as a child visiting my Grandmother’s house, and it was more about family, a good meal and spending time with family around the Christmas tree. Even though there were gifts, it wasn’t about the gifts – they weren’t expensive, but they were meaningful gifts. We each only got one thing, and no more than that.

I want to encourage you to not feel pressured to go beyond what you can do comfortably and make sure that you keep the theme of Christmas, the birth of Christ, your central focus. I also want to encourage you to be very, very thankful for everything that God has done for you.

Sometimes I believe that the more we have, the less thankful we are. We all have to be careful that we don’t get a greedy attitude. So let’s all remember the orange that my mother got and how happy she was, and be very thankful for everything that God does for us.