The 5th Way of Christmas

Since we were children and Christmas brought visions of Santa's Elves and unwrapping piles of presents our parents have been trying to teach us one thing.  Christmas is not about receiving, it's about giving.  Well not today.

Today is all about receiving.

Receiving is an important part of life and we must all learn to do it with grace.  And it doesn't just mean to gain or to get.  Receiving is an active gesture that denotes acceptance and change.  We receive the Holy Ghost.  We are asked to receive each other in Romans 15:7 and of course we must receive the gift of the atonement of our savior Jesus Christ.

This year I have learned about a different kind of receiving.

A few days ago I wrote about losing our Christmas money and how that was a faith building day for me.  I learned that gratitude is always important, even and especially in those hard times.

Before posting it I asked Brent to read it and make sure I didn't sound whiny or like I was asking for a handout.  We have some very generous family and Brent doesn't even like birthday presents.  I simply wanted to write what I had learned.

He gave me the proverbial "thumbs up" so I posted it.

Because of that very generous family I mentioned (and someone anonymous)  we have learned the art of receiving.  Tonight we looked at the unexpected gifts and before we could feel guilty I said, we need to say some gratitude prayers tonight.  And I promise, we will.

We have had so much help through our lives both before and after marriage and someday, we will get to be on the other side of the story!  I can't wait for that day!  But for now we are learning to receive with humility, gratitude and grace.

We may be given temporal aid or gifts, we may be offered love and support, we may even be offered forgiveness.  My hope is that we each have the courage to receive, full heartedly that which is extended to each of us.