Christmas Memories Never Die

Do you remember what it was like? You know, when you were just a kid and Christmas seemed liked the most magical time of the year? I know, I know, Christmas is truly about Jesus and that is why we celebrate. Yet as a kid, you couldn't help but go beyond the manger scenes and Christmas Eve services to a world filled with toys and happiness that still sticks with you to this day.

As I ponder what this year has been like for most of us, I realize that holiday gatherings are probably not going to look like they have in the past. Some of the Christmas traditions that have been sacred for your family for generations might be on pause this year, but that doesn't mean that this time for gathering and worshiping the birth of our Savior can't still be memorable. We all just have to flow a little bit differently right now, you know? 

In honor of this most wonderful time of the year when gathering with friends and family has never seemed more precious, I thought it would be cool for some of you to share some of your favorite Christmas memories from when you were a child (or even from your adult years!). Comment with your response or post it on Facebook if this is where you read this. I'll go first.

• I remember as a boy waking up well before dawn and lying down at the tops of the stairs, craning my neck and straining my eyes to see what those shadowy gifts just beyond my reach in the living room actually were. My brothers and I would take turns guessing what we thought we saw and the anticipation for my parents to wake up was almost more than I could bare!
• Do you remember when Sears and JC Penney sent out their Christmas catalogs each year? I vividly recall flipping through every page, circling the presents that I wanted in hopes that Santa (and my parents) would get the hint. I must have circled half the gifts each year in those catalogs!
  
• Probably my favorite memory I have from my childhood is from Christmas Eve at my grandparent's house on my mom's side. Me, my parents, and my brothers would load up in the station wagon with gifts in tow and head across town where we would join my aunts and uncles and their kids for an absolute feast that my grandmother spend all day cooking – country style steak, mashed potatoes, squash casserole, potato salad, green beans, corn, rolls, and the best homemade chocolate pies this side of heaven. Then we would all retire to the den where one of the kids would read the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke and then we would tear into the presents that the rest of the family got for us. 

As a parent, I have enjoyed watching my children make their own Christmas memories over the years, and my wife and I love making new traditions together as a family. I can't help but think how cool it will be to one day be the grandparents house my kids and grand kids will gather at for holidays in the future. So go ahead, take some time to daydream back to your childhood and share some of your favorite Christmas memories as well!