The month of December is upon us.  The month of Christmas, of holidays, of traditions, and wonderment.  The Christmas of my childhood is remembered with such fondness, putting up the tree, making gifts at school for my family, cookie baking, the special holiness of church services during Advent and especially the Christmas Eve services, and most special of all the story of Jesus' birth.

The Christmas of my adult life, I'm afraid has become something all together different, the hustle and bustle, the lengthy shopping lists, the baking, the cooking, the cleaning, the feeling that I cannot possibly get everything done.  I fear that I'm becoming Scrooge like.

So, this year, I'm pledging to make some changes that will make a difference in my holiday.  I vow to enjoy the month of December, I vow to remember the true meaning of the season; I vow to return to the feeling of Christmas wonderment of my youth; and I vow to simplify my holiday season so that I can enjoy it more and make it more wonderful for others at the same time.

Here are some things I plan to do in December to make the whole month more fun for me and my family and friends, maybe some of them will work for you and yours.

First of all, do you have a group of extended family or friends that you don't see very often, but you always buy gifts for?  Do you find yourselves rushing around from shop to shop looking for just the perfect gift that they will love?  I find I can spend many valuable hours in these endeavors.  Then, there's wrapping the gifts.  And finally, by the time I'm actually passing along the gifts, I don't have any real time to spend with these particular family or friends, because I'm rushing off to the next locale.  This just doesn't always feel like merry-making does it? 

Instead, why not call a few of these family or friends and suggest that instead of gift-giving this year, you will all meet for one fabulous gathering for dinner, or brunch, or lunch or coffee.  In my whirl-wind life I miss my friends; the gift of visiting with them for a few hours would be a gift indeed!  Stress the fact that no gifts should be purchased.  The gift is the sharing of time.  I can hear some say of you saying now:  "Take time out to visit with friends, or family at this time of the year?  There is no time."  But again, think of the shopping and wrapping time you are saving.  And if these family or friends just cannot get past the no-gifts policy, suggest instead that donations be made to favorite charities.  There are so many who need at the holidays, what a wonderful way to truly share the meaning of Christmas.

The idea of no-gift giving may just be too radical for some people.  So here are some additional suggestions.

Why not host a wrapping party?  Have your guests bring a few rolls of their favorite wrapping paper and bows, their favorite scissors, and a roll of tape, plus a box or two of their gifts.  Spend a few hours wrapping together.  You can supply coffee and cookies, no need to be elaborate, unless of course you want to.  Think of the fun of wrapping together, perhaps you can share some tips of wrapping with each other.  And tasks like these are always more fun when they are shared. 

Or how about a cookie-baking party?  You supply the kitchen, and the basic ingredients:  flour, sugar, whatever, and then your guests come armed with their own favorite cookie recipes and additional ingredients.  Be sure to have them bring containers for the cookies.  Now you can spend the afternoon baking, and at the end of the day, you will all have a wonderful selection of cookies that you didn't have to bake by yourself.

I have a group of friends who instead of baking together, we meet for a cookie exchange.  There are about eight of us, and everyone bakes two dozen cookies.  We gather for a delightful evening of celebrating and cookie sampling, (everyone always brings a few extra for tasting) and exchanging.  By the end of the evening, we have beautiful platters to take home to our families, with the most delicious, and lovely assortment of Christmas cookies.  My own family looks forward to this event every year!

I hope some of these suggestion will help you in this season of Christmas.  Try to remember that there is a reason for this season.  And don't forget to include Him in your holiday, too!