Spirit of Christmas: Day 7

A Stocking for Jesus

I'm not sure who came up with this tradition, but it's one that we did with my parents. After we had all opened our presents and spent Christmas afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Raymond's house, we came home and pulled out the last Christmas stocking. It's a really pretty homemade stocking that I think used to be Aunt Ida's. We would pull out the slips of paper that were inside from the year before and read them for the whole family to hear.

The way it works is like this... We each get so many things that we like and want at Christmas, shouldn't we give something back also? So, we give back a goal of something kind we can do, or more righteous that we can do and give to Jesus during the rest of the year. It could be as simple as smiling at someone every day. Whatever the goal is, you write it down and put it in Jesus' stocking to check back the next Christmas and see how you did. It was always funny to hear what people thought they'd put in before we read the slips, only to realize they had accomplished both goals.

Source

Since we are headed to Michigan for Christmas again this year, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to put on my slip. Maybe reading my scriptures on a more regular basis or finding opportunities to be the answer to someone else's prayer. What would you want to give to Jesus for Christmas?

Look forward to Christmas Eve church service for tomorrow's post.