Christmas

So I had to work for Christmas Eve and Christmas. That's just part of the job... But I still had such a fun Christmas. Fun Christmas parties with the Hyer's, lots of amazing gifts, yummy food, and good times with family. I flew home to work and came right back to the celebrations the next day. I really just came home, worked, slept, and came back. Chandler stayed with family, but he left special surprises all over the house for me. Spending Christmas alone, working, was a new experience for me...While I was at work I read a talk by Elder Holland that made my Christmas feel special.

"Maybe the purchasing and the making and the wrapping and the decorating—those delightfully generous and important expressions of our love at Christmas—should be separated, if only slightly, from the more quiet, personal moments when we consider the meaning of the Baby (and his birth) who prompts the giving of such gifts.
As happens so often if we are not careful, the symbols can cover that which is symbolized. In some of our lives the manger has already been torn down to allow for a discount store running three-for-a-dollar specials on gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
...I, like you, need to remember the very plain scene, even the poverty, of a night devoid of tinsel or wrapping or goods of this world. Only when we see that single, sacred, unadorned object of our devotion—the Babe of Bethlehem—will we know why “tis the season to be jolly” and why the giving of gifts is so appropriate."
Jeffrey R. Holland, "“Maybe Christmas Doesn’t Come from a Store”", Ensign, Dec. 1977, 63–65

Sitting in the hospital, there really weren't any distractions from what Christmas is really about... I felt very blessed to have that special experience at Christmas to focus on the birth of Christ.