It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

Ah! The giving season is finally here again! The shorter days, colder nights, and snow that seems to fall in all the right places! Well here in the mitten, you would expect there to be three feet of snow by now...well it is looking more like a green Christmas is in store for all of us Michiganders. Don't get me wrong, I am loving not having to drive in the snowy mess that is winter, but it would be nice to look outside on Christmas morning to see the ground covered in a thick blanket of fluffy crisp white snow. Let's just say, that it is easier to dream about a white Christmas than to actually get one. But in the end, that is not what Christmas is about. Christmas is a holiday celebrating the beginning of a new life, of new adventures and of new friendships brought together by the cold whip of winter. Sure the presents are nice, and fun for a while, but the everlasting gift of pure satisfaction after really giving during the holidays is the greatest gift of all. I am not going to sit here and type that I am a perfect person, because I am far from it. But I am challenging myself this time of year to give back not only to my family, but to my community. I plan to do anything and everything I can so that another little girl or boy can have the Christmas of a lifetime. Maybe it's not through the perfect gift, but it will be through pure joy and love that they have a great Christmas to remember. At my high school we do a yearly project called Angel Tree. This entails that every SRT and different classes throughout the school 'pick up' one or two children of various ages and donate money to buy them Christmas presents. It hadn't really hit me until today that what we are participating in is more than just another project for the school. I-more or less-put myself in the shoes of these kids and looked under my Christmas tree to find no presents. Now I realize that they aren't wrapped yet-or put under the tree, but it was heartbreaking to see nothing. This is a very real thing for many families, and for hundreds of others, there isn't even a roof over their heads. It is really easy to take advantage of how good you do have it. I am extending a helping hand out to all of you in the hopes that you will challenge yourselves this year as well to give back and make someone's day brighter. A simple 'Hello' is suffice to making someone smile. Please, open your hearts and minds to we as Americans HUMANS getting back to the true idea of Christmas. Selfless Giving, Sheer Humanity, and Hope for a better tomorrow.