Every Day, in Every Way, Scrooge is Getting Worse

I decided to take a few days off for Christmas, which made my countdown make no sense, but let's move past that.

Before I get right into the last item of my countdown, I have some great news that my wife and I decided to keep a secret until Christmas:  We're pregnant!  In June, I'm going to be a dad.  My wife doesn't want to know the gender until it is born, so I don't know if I'll be a dad to a little baby boy, or a dad to an adorable baby girl, but I'll be a dad.  I told my primary class of eleven year old boys, and asked if they thought I seemed like a dad, and in unison they all said "no."  I really can't blame them, I don't see myself as a dad either, but I sure will be.  Anyway, we're really stoked.

Which leads into the last thing on my countdown, I love the baby Jesus.  I love that he was born in a manger, and that he had loving earthly parents, and that he is our redeemer, and savior, and advocate, and friend.  I love celebrating that he came here to save me.  I love being reminded that if I were the only person to ever repent and be saved by the Atonement, he'd still have come to this earth, bled on Calvary, and died on Golgotha.  I love remembering that he loves me that much.

This might actually be the root of why I get so sick of Christmas.  If you'll remember all the things I counted on my countdown, very few of them have Jesus roots.  I don't care how many times I hear fake stories about how "The Evergreen Tree stands for everlasting life..."  I still know those stories aren't true.  Evergreen trees in our homes have nothing to do with ever lasting life.  Santa's generosity may remind us of Jesus, but that's not why he is so generous.  We've taken Christ out of Christmas, and that drives me nuts.  Anyway, I did try to love Christmas more this year, and it semi-worked.  I'm still a bit of a Grinch, but I'll try to be better next year.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!