Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, aka the holiday season. We spend all year waiting for this blissful time when people are nicer, everything is prettier, and the atmosphere is just all around merrier. This is the time of year we ensure we spend time with everyone we love, we laugh and catch up and enjoy each other's company, as it should be. For some people though, a big family gathering isn't something they look forward to, because they don't have a family at all, or they have a small family that doesn't make a big deal out of these special days.

To me, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving or Christmas without my loud, chaotic family around. Growing up I wanted to include as many people as possible in this event because I loved it so much. I wanted to invite my friends that didn't have siblings, or their parent's worked on the holiday, I extended invitations to boyfriends and kids I attended church with. My family always opened their arms and welcomed anyone that I brought, by the end of the night you couldn't tell who was actually family and who wasn't. This is one of my favorite things about my family, the ability to include and do for others with no questions asked.

I hate to think that anyone knowingly lets someone celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving alone watching television instead of playing embarrassing board games that will be documented on Facebook for all of eternity. If you are afraid that opening your home to someone that isn't an actual member of your family will ruin the day for you and yours then you're missing the point of the season.The season isn't for gifts, food, or even family time. It's to celebrate Jesus, and make the world a better and kinder world to live in.

The whole point of the Christmas season is to celebrate the birth of Christ. The Jesus I know would (and did) include people of all sorts in his dinners and celebrations. We are to follow this man and do as he did, so this season when you're setting plates and napkins on the table, set an extra one for that coworker who's kids live too far away, for your friend that's single and doesn't have anywhere to go, for anyone that you know that might need a place to celebrate and feel welcome.

We should never turn someone away because they aren't "family" in the traditional sense. We are all family in God's eyes and that alone should drive home the point. This holiday season remember "the more the merrier." and that by giving this to someone else you fill your heart to the brink with love and that is a gift far more precious than anything you can unwrap. Making someone feel welcome during the time when they could feel the loneliest is a gift to them and to you.

OPEN YOUR HOMES AND YOUR HEARTS THIS SEASON.