Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. No matter what age you are there are still plenty of reasons why joy surrounds the holiday season. When you were young, the magic of Santa and the mass surplus of toys underneath the tree instantly sparked the Christmas spirit within you. You probably read the Christmas story, sang in the Children’s choir, and always knew that this was Jesus’ birthday. However, as the years have passed and I have matured, I have found that new joy is brought to my family on Christmas. It brought us together in one location for one very special reason. It brought out family traditions and sparked up new ones. It brought out our childish instincts and our holiday spirit. It brought out our procrastination shopping and our creative gift-giving ideas. It brought Jesus to the table and it spread joy throughout this household. We started our Christmas festivities with my favorite tradition of all: Holiday Baking. All of the Engle ladies dedicate an entire day in the kitchen baking over six different holiday desserts. We dance around to Christmas Carols and dress up in our Christmas attire. After all of the baking was complete, we loaded up all of our buckets and delivered them to our neighbors and closest friends. This year, Mom and Shannon were Santa and Lauren and I were the Grinch. I look forward to this day every single year, because there is nothing better than baking with all my Engle ladies during the holidays! On Christmas Eve, we spent the afternoon having lunch and exchanging gifts with my Aunt Diane and Uncle Robin. I am very thankful that they moved to the Houston area within the past year and we could spend the holidays with them. Afterwards, we went to River Pointe for our typical Christmas Eve service as a family. We sang various songs and reflected on the most precious gift of all, Jesus. The candle lighting ceremony is truly remarkable every year. The fact that one single flame can spread across an auditorium of over 2,000 people within a matter of minutes astonishes me. In fact, the whole Christmas story still astonishes me. Think about it: God sent his ONE and ONLY son to this earth in order to save us. It’s a free gift. Jesus is the ultimate gift, and I am not too sure what else could have possibly been on our Christmas lists this year. Christmas morning was filled with joy and plenty of laughter at the Engle house. We stick to the tradition of opening ALL of our presents on Christmas morning—no sooner and certainly no later. Everyone always says the presents under the tree don’t matter, which is very true. However, I wanted to do something special for each person in my family this year. I love them more than anything in the world and I wanted to show them that this Christmas season. I wrote them each a poem for their themed presents. Some were very comical and others were heartfelt, but I couldn’t have been any happier with the way their faces lit up when they opened them. The best gift exchange in the Engle family this year was Jason’s present to my Mom. It was a scrapbook with pre-recorded messages alongside each picture. We ALL participated in the making of it and the messages, of course, made Mom cry. I thought the making of the gift with the rest of the gang was half of the fun. Jason, my almost 24 year old brother, received an electronic helicopter. You know, the kind 7 year old boys’ tend to ask for from Santa? Well, it was by far his favorite gift and that thing has been flying around ever since it was opened. It brought out the same laughter and excitement from our childhood years. Christmas means something different to everyone. With Christmas comes joy, typically unspeakable joy. For some people the holidays may have brought hard times and countless struggles, and for others it brought the birth of a new baby or simply reunited a family. Everyone’s Christmas story is different and our Christmas circumstances will continue to change. However, there is one story that will always stay the same. There is one gift that will never expire. There is one return you will never have to make. There is one man that changed my life and there is one man that is dying to change yours. Merry Christmas—I hope your holiday season was filled with unspeakable joy for you and your family this year!
