Are you having a happy Christmas, or is that not the word you would choose to describe your attitude this year? It seems that these days it’s getting easier to focus on the problems and stress factors of the Christmas season than to choose to cultivate a truly happy spirit.

Charlotte went right to the heart of the issue when she wrote, “May you have indeed a ‘Happy Christmas.’ ‘It is a comely fashion to be glad.’ May we venture to add that gaiety of heart is not merely a wayside weed that springs of its own accord, where it is not even wanted; but is a choice plant, not quite easy to rear, tender and delicate as it is lovely; a plant one must strike with the psalmist’s hearty resolution ‘I will be glad,’ and then must shelter assiduously from the damp chill of every self-regardful feeling. Gaiety (not of occasion, but of heart) thrives only in an atmosphere of light and love” (The Parents Review, Vol. IV).

What a great reminder! May you (and we) create an atmosphere of light and love in your homes as you celebrate our Savior’s birth.