"means a little bit more"

one of our favorite christmas books {and movies} is HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS. as we were reading it this year a certain passage stood out to me:

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!
“Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!
“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
“Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry Boo-Hoo!

“That’s a noise, “grinned the Grinch,
“That I simply MUST hear!”So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow …

But the sound wasn’t sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN‘T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”

this year has been fun because my parents gave us 12 presents for us to open each one counting down the 12 days of christmas. yesterday we opened our gift and in it was a golden box with a picture of the Savior on it. with that box came several cards with the words: MY GIFT TO THE SAVIOR on top. my parents then asked that we each write something that we can give Christ this year. matt and i decided to do this activity for FAMILY NIGHT last night. {family night is something that we do every monday night with our children with our focus being on teaching them how to be better people, about Jesus and other characters in the scriptures, and to sit down together as a family and have fun}. i enjoyed watching the children draw and write their "gifts" to Jesus...G put that she would obey more and J put that he would give some of his toys and "KLOS" {clothes} to people who needed them more than him. i was touched and hope that we can remember our Savior this time of year and recognize that maybe christmas doesn't come from a store...and means "a little bit more".

on my mantel this year i have 3 different nativities...this one shown is from jerusalem. i was fortunate enough to go there with my dad the summer after my senior year of high school. i love this saying:

WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM

i'm trying hard this year not to get all caught up in the gifts and shopping, to focus more on others, and to focus on our Savior.