to make a moment.  How you decide to spend this moment in time, will determine how you remember it. For me, it is the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas reminds me that God thought I was so important He came to earth in the form of a baby.  The Creator came down to be with the created.  He loves an undeserving humanity.

Holidays give us the opportunity to spend time with that humanity, which in most cases look like our family. I know for some this sounds hard, but it will be some of the best time you ever spend.  It will give you insight into yourself and your family.  In our immediate family, the littles are all teenagers now. Opening presents aren’t near as fun as when they were younger and more excited. We realize time is growing short with them as they start to leave for college and start their own lives.

My sister started playing games with them so that it would be a chance to connect with them. At first, it was a competition with prizes.  These kids are too competitive. We discovered after a rough game of musical chairs, physical contact needed to be limited.  This year there were no prizes, but the trash talk was still as powerful as an old school game of spades because the competition was part of their DNA.

We laughed and played for hours. (And of course, I videoed some of the best moments) Our kids will have memories of a time when we were all together focused on the same thing and remembering it brought joy and laughter.  They may not remember the presents or the food. They will remember the fun.

My crazy sister decided to try it with the extended family. (I thought she was nuts) I was thoroughly surprised when the older members of the family did it.  We taught the games, they, of course, changed them some to adapt to them. It was a blast. Again, the joy and the laughter is what we are going to remember. (And my favorite memory will be when my aunt excused herself for a moment, my sister traded her to the other team. But because she is OUR aunt, she played for whatever team felt like. Sometimes she played for my sister’s team. Sometimes she played for the other team. It was great.)

Here is where the opportunity comes in. You can do what you always do when you get together with family or you can break old habits and experience new things together.  Playing games with the young and the old was such a crazy experience. I would have never thought of it myself, but I was willing to listen to others.

Go into 2019 with great memories of your family and friends. Spend time with each other and enjoy the world around you.