It's finally starting to feel like Christmas to me. Not because people have turned their homes into colorful light displays, not because we've finally had a snowstorm (even though it didn't even stick), not because I'm sitting here watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, but because I have given my first Christmas gift of the season. It wasn't anything fancy--just a Christmas tree-scented candle for my friend whose favorite holiday is Christmas. He really wanted a tree but felt he doesn't have enough money for it this year. So then he wanted a tree-scented candle so he'd at least have the scent of the tree to provide some Christmas spirit, but felt like he couldn't even afford that. So I decided to take care of him.
Isn't giving what Christmas is all about? We celebrate the gift of something simple--a baby, whose life and death gave us something we cannot buy or earn for ourselves--hope and salvation.
So, if you have yet to find some Christmas spirit I suggest you try giving it to someone else. If you give, it will come.