Christmas to me means being with the ones I love (and avoiding the ones that cause pain) and celebrating the birth of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No Santa is not mentioned in my home!!

I love that memory Doo! Thank you so much for sharing it!

I love the lights - they remind me of the magic I felt when I was a kid. I love many of the Christmas carols and I love that the story is about the adoration of a baby. It is a sweet story. I don't care much about the commercialism. My family isn't that interested in gifts and in fact decided not to exchange gifts this year. But I'm a little sad that we're going to be away on Christmas day.

You know Doo, that would be amazing!! Cities scare the devil out of me so if you ever make it to NYC take lots of pics for me!

I celebrate a secular holiday with my kids. To me it's about family. This year the message is coming through really clear as their father is going through hard times and doesn't have the money for presents for them...no matter. I've reinforced that he's been a good father over the years (if a bit absent), that we all have issues and NOW is the time for them to be there for him. He's coming over for the holidays, this will be the first Christmas together since the divorce. (He's Christian so he's free to share that with them if he chooses, however the kids are being raised atheist.)

We make cookies to eat and give to others. Dinner will be a light mix of things to snack on...meats, cheese, fruit, etc. We'll play board games. My daughter will definitely win at Clue and probably at Monopoly. "Santa" will come (I'll fill stockings for all of us.) I bought a robe for my kids to have a present to give to their father. I have a handful of presents for the kids to open. That's about it...pretty simple. I'm not sure yet if "dinner" will be on Christmas Eve or Day... I'm a go with the flow type of person.

Then my son will spend as much time over at the Fire House as he can. I've pointed out that others will young children or more religious holidays may not be as available. (Also my when my ex was a tot he ate the bottle of baby aspirin in the middle of some family gathering or another....I've pointed out that fire stations get lots of calls around holidays.)

As a former hospital chaplain in my pre-kidney disease days, I'm ordained so I always get some guest preacher invitations around Christmas to fill in for ministers who, after all of the cantatas and so forth, need some time off. I did a couple of those these past 2 weeks.

On Christmas, though, all ministers fill their own pulpits, so I get time off both from my college teaching job full time and from my part time substitute preacher jobs weekends. Then I have to take care of me. My elderly parents are still abusive though old. My father punched me in the face the last time I went to their house for Christmas, so since it wasn't the first time and old age hasn't mellowed him, I don't go there.

This close to Christmas hotels cut their prices in half on unoccupied rooms, so I got Christmas at a Hyatt Regency a couple of hours' drive away from me for just $47 a night. Ha! The real holiday gift will be in the morning, when I get room service breakfast served to my room.

I'll go to a nearby church for Christmas services. A place where no one knows me, where I don't have to work as a minister and I can just enjoy celebrating the season. That'll be it for me for Christmas. That would upset some others, but I like the simplicity without the stress or the commercialism. I enjoy the peace
I get by letting the rest go in celebration of the prince of peace.

I love the Christmas Spirit. I love going far out of my way for a month to decorate the house, bake all sorts of goodies and spread holiday cheer through my family. I love the joy of meticulously planning gifts for all of my family and knowing how happy and surprised they will be with the gifts I've come up for them. I love being with my family and all the charity, joy, generosity, and warm wishes that gets into everyone this time of year, and spreading that happiness as far as I can.

I had a rough day and needed to end on a positive note. Thank you for this post.

I loved your post 2magicman, as my thoughts about Christmas this year are a bit different. I’m in a different state, not at home, helping my sister care for our elderly parents. It’s a stretch for me because being a “nurse” isn’t one of my natural gifts. But a couple of weeks ago I heard a message at church that has great meaning for me this year. Christmas is about grace…receiving it and giving it. I’ve receive abundant grace from my Heavenly Father all through my life, and now I can give it to my earthly parents and sister this year. Grace. The perfect gift.