Idea List: Make Your Christmas Christ Centered

by Peggy Sue Clark

Peggy Sue Clark, *Idea List: Make Your Christmas Christ Centered,* New Era, Dec. 1998, 33

* Make a *give list* instead of a list of gifts you*d like to receive.

* Improve yourself in some way that would be pleasing to the Savior.

* Make time for quiet reflection and choose uplifting holiday activities instead of marathon shopping.

* Bear your testimony out loud, either at testimony meeting or to a friend or family member.

* Read the Christmas story from the Bible (see Luke 2).

* Repent prayerfully and fully of your sins before taking the sacrament. Think only about the Savior during the sacrament.

* Write about what you*re doing to make the season meaningful, either in your journal or in a letter to yourself.

* Watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.

* Team up with your family and be a *Secret Santa* for an individual or a family in your ward.

* Read the December New Era.

* If your ward or stake is having a Christmas social, invite a less-active member to go with you and your family.

* Check out videos from your meetinghouse library about the life of the Savior.

* Listen to beautiful Christmas music. Handel*s Messiah is a great choice.

* Think of ways your family*s Christmas traditions reinforce your testimony. Focus on those aspects of your celebration.

* Keep pictures of the Savior throughout his life around the house in places you will see them often.

* If there are small children in your home or your neighborhood, organize a live Nativity. Invite friends and neighbors. Serve Christmas cookies and hot chocolate as refreshments.