"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

Winston Churchill

Christmas is coming! It’s been difficult wrapping (mind the pun) my heart and head around it this year. For a couple of reasons it is going to be very different and yet in some very great ways it will be spectacular. Here’s what I am on about.

No Money! The economy sucks and even more than that there is no more child support so the reality is it is going to be a very sparse Christmas.

This is the first year that I will only be able to give in a very minimalist way and I am feeling kind of sad. Usually, I can cash in stocks or find some extra money some where but that just isn’t so this year. So this season my kids are really going to feel it. That’s not so bad. They already understand and have been saying for weeks to each and all of us to scale back. My kids get this and for that reason, even though it isn’t the greatest of news, it’s an opportunity for the greatest of life lessons. I love them for embracing these.

Christmas was Grandma and without her we feel her loss more. It’s hard to live up to what she was able to give in a way that even she felt sometimes was not enough. She gave of her time and energy and she knew what giving was when it came to Christmas. We miss her most at this time of year.

I am doing my best to build that feeling and anticipation for my family in my home and I can see that it is starting to grow. My girls in Vancouver are excited to come home, we here are even more excited that they are coming and all the talk is about spending the time together.

The one thing I think I love that the most about this new and redefined family is very simple. You can’t even imagine what it is like to love being in the company of one another. That wasn’t something that could have always been said to be true so to see it becoming a part of who we are now is AWESOME! It is ZEN!

People look in on my family and see a fractured and broken home. I resent the concept that we are broken in any way. We are mended and thriving and finding in each other an opportunity to utilize the Savior’s atonement to it’s most treasured and profound outcome.

The mere fact that we will sit on Christmas Eve at our traditional fondue evening and smile and giggle and argue that "wine and liquor still isn’t allowed in my house so have some when you get home to yours", in the jest that makes the plan of salvation so real to my family and to myself. To know that we understand the Savior’s gospel as we celebrate his birth. To also know we adore and care about each other in spite of each other’s life choices because that kind of love transcends judgment and criticism, as it should and that this truly is what the meaning of giving is at this season for my family… for me.

We give each other hope and love and unconditional acceptance, forgiveness and support. Please someone help me to understand why this could ever be considered broken or failed. In my eyes, this kind of sacrifice defines giving. This is the Christmas that Yomomma’s mother helped to establish and that makes the world, at least in the eyes of the five of us, a simple and more secure place.

Christmas this year will have no anger…. It’s gone. It will have no judgment, it’s gone. It will have a spirituality about it that personifies all that it is meant to be. Think about it. The Savior made his debut in a real and purposeful way. He came to his family in quietness and solitude. He came in hope to the ones, in the end, who would always love Him, the most. I connect to Mary for that one reason and one reason alone. To understand and grasp a mother’s unconditional and infinite love for a child and the dedication to be there throughout, no matter what. It’s the divinity of the blessing of that great role - motherhood. A role I thank the Big Guy for everyday!

So to my kidlets; bring the season on! Here’s to the first of many Christmas seasons filled with peace, love, hope, tranquility and most of all, JOY. It’s the beginning of many that will be conflict free!