december letters

dear december,
you have arrived!  welcome. we are so glad to have you.  thank you for bringing the glistening lights, the candy canes, the christmas cheer, the mall santas, and the giving spirit. it is truly the best time of the year.  please, take your time... we are not in any rush. 

dear Jesus,
what a gift you are! thank you for your life, your example, and your infinite love.  because of you, i can be perfected.  because of you, i can change for the better.  i will do my best to focus on what really matters. i will do my best to serve those in need and love those that suffer. i will do my best to represent you in all that i do.

dear christmas music,
you are everywhere and i love it.  i even workout listening to your festive tunes.  my favorite pandora station right now is michael buble (holiday).  just the right mix of old and new and everything in between.  it's a gem.  i will bask in your glory and soak it all in. 

dear mall santa,
i have been asking jeremy if we could take a picture with you for years, literally years. i might just have to visit you solo and have a stranger take an iphone picture, because he is just never in the mood to sit on your lap. can i come visit you and not pay for the staged picture?  do your mall elves get grumpy when people do that?

dear materialism,
you're the worst.  i tend to get caught up in you around this time.  the black friday shopping reels me in and i fall into a gimme-gimme-gimme-phase. and we all know that just leads to misery.  you are the very opposite of a grateful heart, so i will use gratitude to fight you off and take back my holiday season.  there. i am feeling better already.

dear egg nog (non-alcholic, of course),
i don't understand you one bit.  i taste you every couple of years and i am still perplexed by your existence.  what are you made of?  why do people actually enjoy you?  beats me.  maybe this will be one of the years i test you out again.  no promises that anything mutual will develop. 

dear snow,
we got a glimpse of you this past week and i am getting pretty excited.  i am ready to hit the trails on my cross-country skis and go exploring in the woods.  i am ready to make a snow man and get so cold that hot chocolate is the only proper remedy.  come on snow... let's play.

xoxo, katie


p.s. anyone want to join in on the 25 Christmas challenges?  we will do one everyday until Christmas.  it's the perfect advent activity!

1. Go out of your way– befriend someone today that needs a friend and follow through to Christmas
2. Tell someone you love them
3. Add a decoration that will remind you of Christ
4. In your prayers today, give thanks for every blessing without asking for anything
5. Try to be as kind as possible to others today
6. Reach out to a family member today that you haven’t talked to recently
7. Do a good deed anonymously
8. Make goals for yourself– seal a copy in an envelope to be opened in a year
9. Visit someone sick or lonely or sad
10. Do volunteer work for some worthy cause
11. Do something fun for a child or younger sibling
12. Try to forgive someone who has wronged you, be reconciled
13. Make a “give list” instead of a list of gifts you’d like
14. Improve yourself in some way to please the Savior
15. Quietly reflect and choose uplifting activities instead of shopping
16. Phone or send a card to an old friend
17. Listen to religious Christmas music
18. Make a Christmas treat for someone else
19. Be a calming influence today and control your temper
20. Accept the gift of forgiveness– pray for one of your weaknesses & ask for help in repenting of it
21. Look at Christmas lights… where does all light come from?
22. Sing carols
23. Do something nice for someone without their knowing it was you
24. Be the first to say hello to people all day
25. Ask someone to tell you about a past Christmas