Christmas is right around the corner and there are so many things to do! Two weeks isn't that much time to: finish Christmas shopping, pass finals week with a small shred of sanity, decorate the entire house, send out Christmas cards that will only hang on your friend's and family's fridge about two weeks, make sugar cookies, and make sure that this Christmas will be better than ever. It's no wonder that the holidays can be one of the most stressful times of the year for a lot of people. Why do we do this to ourselves? Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, but even I can get caught up in all the wrong things come this time of year.

As cliché as the saying is, Jesus really is the reason for the season. As the story goes, a very pregnant Mary and her husband Joseph traveled to Bethlehem for the census that was ordered by Caesar Agustus forcing Mary and Joseph to travel to their ancestors' hometown. Joseph, being a descendant of King David, brought his family to Bethlehem. All of the inns and hotels were full due to the surge of visitors. Mind you, Mary was nine months pregnant with the Son of God, so she's ready to pop at any moment. They were able to find a place to stay, a cave. Our western translation paints a picture of a nice wooden stable where there is a cozy wooden manger when in reality it was a cave where it was probably wet and frigid cold at night. This really wasn't as glamorus as we make it out to be. Mary gave birth to baby Jesus in a stinky, cold, wet, and crap covered cave.

The Angels sang songs on the hillside alerting the shepherds that the promised Messiah had been born. The shepherds came down from the hillside to see and worship the baby king. In those days shepherds were at the lower end of society. They smelled, they were socially awkward, they were poor, and they had nothing much to offer in life, so logically you can imagine how weirded out Mary and Joseph were when all of these strange men came to see their son. This is the second gift to be given on Christmas: the shepherds brought their hearts. "What was the first gift?" you may ask: Jesus. God sent his son as gift to humanity, a savior to the world. This baby crying in a cave would in time be tortured, beaten, mocked, scorned, and nailed by his hands and feet to a roman cross.

Today we've completely lost sight of what Christmas can truly mean. We get wrapped up in the gifts we wrap instead of what happens when we get raptured up. Jesus was born to die and that is the greatest gift of all; He's coming back for us. The true meaning of Christmas is giving to others because Christ gave to us. I'm not just talking about the latest iPhone or the cutest clothes. I'm talking about giving our full attention to our family and those around us. This Christmas I challenge each one of my readers to do one nice thing this Christmas season for someone who isn't related to you. Jesus is the reason for the season, and in the words of my good friend Buddy the Elf: