Christmas is a time where families come together and hope fills the air. There is so much more to Christmas than getting piles of presents underneath a Christmas tree. I truly do believe that the birth of our Savior is the real reason for Christmas.

That does not mean that I don't love all the secular aspects of Christmas. I love baking Christmas cookies, putting up a tree, and getting presents, but at the end of the day, the presents mean the least to me.

My favorite Christmas was a few years ago. I didn't get a boatload of presents, but I did get to spend it in Germany with family and friends.

My family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, as do many other German families. We started the day out by putting up a twelve foot Christmas tree that had been freshly cut. There is something so pure about having a real Christmas tree.

We covered it in ornaments and little candles, that we actually lit that night. Part of me was terrified all night that the candles would light the tree on fire, but the sight of little candles flickering on the tree was mesmerizing.

That night, we ate two full Christmas dinners. One we ate with my extended family, who we only get to see once every couple years. There were almost twenty of us eating together and catching up.

It was the perfect beginning to a truly perfect Christmas. At the end of the day, I wouldn't have changed a single thing about that day.

We exchanged small gifts, gifts that were practical but also highly personal. In my family, it has never been about the amount of presents, but rather the thought behind the presents and that year was no exception.

The second dinner was with a family that used to be just friends, and now is 100% our family. We were staying with them. They were the ones we had decorated the tree with.

When we got back to their house, the candles were lit, a fire roared in the fireplace, and the house smelled like heaven. We sat around the fire, giving each other gifts.

That Christmas I received only a few things, but they are some of my most treasured possessions because the thought that went into each one was so deep. Every time I wear the scarf my brother got me, or wear the bracelet my exchange students got me, I am brought back to that perfect night.

I had always told myself that I didn't need gifts to be happy, I just needed to be with my family. Yet, I had never put that to the test. That year, I did and guess what, it was the best Christmas of my life.

Christmas is not about the presents. It is about spending time with the people you love, looking forward to a new year of blessings, partaking in traditions. Christmas is about hope and joy and love, nothing else and nothing more.

So my challenge to you this Christmas is to not focus on all the things you want, but rather spend more time with your loved ones instead of buying them more gifts. At the end of the day, hopefully you will be as glad as I was and realize that you don't need much for Christmas to have meaning.

All you need is your family, and most importantly joy at being able to be together.