Jesus Once of Humble Birth

Eleven days into the "official" Christmas Season (according to me) and I am finally coming to terms with it. As a child, I loved Christmas!! What child doesn't?! It always seemed perfect, warm, magical, full of love and happiness. As a mother, too many of those qualities are missing. It seems that as the calendar flips over to December one, a switch flips in my brain and I turn in to the "Momster." Christmas has become a time of great stress for me. The sad thing is, I don't think I'm the only one out there who feels this way. However, with all I have learned in my life about choice and agency, I know that I have a choice about how I feel about Christmas.

Sunday night, as a family, we watched The First Presidency Christmas Fireside. The music was beautiful! "Once In Royal David's City" was especially memorable for me. The messages were comforting and inspiring. The greatest power came as the Holy Ghost taught me personally about what I need to do to "fix" Christmas for myself. It's all about a baby born in a manger. What Christmas has become in the world has, in my opinion, grown grossly out of control. As the gulf between these two grows wider, something deep inside of me becomes more uncomfortable. So, I will fight to keep what is sacred about Christmas from being covered up in a pile of glitz, lights, paper, presents, money, busy-ness, etc. I want to feel that peace that only comes from the Savior of the World. As I clear away some of the clutter, I am finding that peace.

Once In Royal David's City
Once in royal David's city stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven, who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly, lived on earth our Savior holy.

And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav'n above,
And he leads his children on to the place where he is gone.