The Meaning of Christmas

It is so easy to get caught up in the holiday hustle and bustle. With all the events, shopping, decorating, wrapping and so much more sometimes I have to take a step back and think about the holidays and why they are important to not only me, but my family. Whether you are religious or not the holidays can have many different meanings. For me, it is about quality family time, giving to those in need and being thankful for our health and life.  

In my family, we aren't exceptionally religious, we consider a day in the mountains as a day in church but, we do talk about God and Jesus with our children and what they stand for to us. This year my four year old made me very proud when she decided to tell me what Christmas was. She told me it was Jesus' birthday and she was excited to celebrate. I asked her what she would like to do for his birthday and she said she wanted to spend time with ALL her family. It made my heart melt. Our family can definitely fall into the over buy, give too much, spoil our children category so for her to say that and not mention presents, I decided we were doing something right. 

We adopted a child through my daughter's school, meaning we were able to buy the items on his Christmas list and give them to him anonymously. All we knew was he is a 15 year old boy. His list didn't include toys, it was mainly clothes, shoes and books. I regretfully didn't include my girls in the buying part of the process, because I didn't think they would have fun buying the not so fun stuff. When I was wrapping the gifts, my daughters and I started to talk about the boy and what we got for him. They didn't understand how his family couldn't afford some of the basics of clothing and it made them sad to think about. They did decide that what we were doing was really kind and thoughtful by not only helping the boy with things he needed, but helping his parents so they didn't have to worry about providing those things. I think next year I will include them in the whole process so they can start to understand what it means to help someone in need. 

I believe the Christmas spirit is still there. Sometimes I have to slow down and look for it, but it makes me appreciate this time of year so much more. We at Latham Interiors are a small company and we truly appreciate all the support we have from our customers. We hope that your holidays are filled with Love, laughter, memories and blessings. 

Best Regards and Happy Holidays!

Erin