Don't save it all for Christmas Day, find a way to give a little love every day.

Ah, the Christmas season. As I heard it said the other day, it brings out both the best in people...and the worst.

Take today for instance (yesterday to be exact, Sunday the 5th). My dad and I were in Walmart picking up a few necessities, odds and ends and whatnot. It was a madhouse in there, I could tell it was going to be by the nearly full parking lot before we even walked in. I commented to my dad how it was "kinda scary, considering this is only the first weekend in December." We get to the check-out line, and there's this woman in front of us. She's quiet until the cashier accidently starts ringing up some of our items as hers, and this just sets her off. She starts snapping about how "this is the express line, it shouldn't take this long!", etc, etc. The cashier (and his successor, as he was about to go on break) apologized profusely, but nothing was gonna settle this woman down. She continued to rant until the sale was final, she yanked her items off the counter in a huff and stormed off......I watched as she walked off, yet stopped to continue ranting to a manager about this travesty. My dad, the second cashier and the people behind us in line all kinda just shook our heads in disbelief and chuckled to ourselves. My dad asked me later in the car if I'd noticed -- in the midst of this woman's tirade -- that the couple behind us had let two people go ahead of them, because they had fewer items than the said couple. It amazed me. Here, in the same line, was the best and the worst.

And it got me to thinking.....which person will I choose to be? Will I choose to let stress overtake my joy, impatience overtake my kindness? Will I let tiredness overwhelm my tongue and cause me to snap at loved ones? Or will I stop -- take a deep breath, say a prayer and truly remember the Reason for the Season? It's really something to think about. We can get so wrapped up in looking for the 'perfect gift' for someone that we miss the gifts that He's already given us and is trying to still bestow upon us! Friends. Family. Happiness. Health. The simple joys of life. A smile from a stranger. Simply waking up in the morning and breathing fresh air. That baby born in the filth and lowliness of a manger, to save our souls.

I don't want to get so caught up in the rush of it all that I miss the point of it all. Ever. In December, or January, or February, so on and so on. This, truly is my greatest wish for this Christmas season. That He would open my eyes to the hurting, the ones in need. That He would open my heart to receive what He has for me, and also to be grateful for what I already have. To both accept and reflect His love to all mankind. Because really....isn't that what it's all about?