The Joy Of Christmas

I love listening to the Prophet and his counselors speak. This years Christmas devotional didn't disappoint. I wanted to share some feelings I had while listening to it, with you.

Last night President Uchtdorf said "Every gift that comes from the heart allows opportunity to build and strengthen our bond of love."

"We have been given so many gifts from a loving Heavenly Father.  The gift of the Holy Ghost, the miracle of forgiveness, personal revelation and guidance, the Saviors peace and the certainty that death is conquered."  There are obviously many more but lets think about those. Do we think of these gifts with the excitement and wonder of a child? Have we received them with humble gratitude and joy? Or are we too distracted every day to even notice the many great blessings we really have?

It is really easy to become overwhelmed and lose the spirit of Christmas.
President Monson said this " Finding the real joy of Christmas comes not in the hurrying and scurrying to get more done, nor is it found in the purchasing of gifts. We find real joy when we make the savior the focus of the season. We can keep him in our thoughts and lives as we go about our work that he would have us do here on earth."

This year we were led on a different path then we planned. We had no reason to think that we would be headed over to Ukraine at any point in our lives. We had not planned to host a child in our home and we definitely were not planning to realize that she was in fact our child. We were just going about our life, doing normal everyday things. Trying to live in a way that we could humbly receive the gifts given to us from our Heavenly Father. When through those amazing gifts, we were led to Olena. This is most definitely the work HE would have us do. We were meant to meet her. There is no doubt in my mind.
President Monson spoke in his talk about the elderly, but I feel his words also ring true for orphans like Olena. He said "What they need is a sense of belonging, and assurance of being wanted. Loving hearts, not merely a dutiful formality, not merely a room in a building, but room in someone's heart and life. We cannot bring back what was lost, but we can help them live in the warm glow of a sunset, made more beautiful by our thoughtfulness and by our unfeigned love!"

We are trying desperately to give this feeling of belonging to Olena. It is something that is and has been missing from her life, and from the lives of other orphans all around the world. They long to belong (especially those that are older) to someone. They long to feel like someone is interested enough to ask them how their day was. They long to call someone mama or papa and to hear the simple words I love you. We (people with family around us) hear those words all the time and probably take them for granted. Its just something you say. But to these kids it could be the difference between having a life and ending their life. I know that sounds harsh but that is the reality of their lives. We hope to change that for Olena. We do love her and we want her to know that.

President Monson said "Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. You'll not know what Christmas is unless it's in your heart."

As a young girl in my home, my parents would always make sure that we read the Christmas story before we opened any presents. They wanted to make sure that we remembered the REAL meaning of Christmas. Even as a child I remember feeling inexpressible joy listening to that story and being with my family. That short story of the birth if Christ brought the spirit strongly into our home. I felt not only the love of my family members but I also felt the love of my Heavenly Father.  I wanted to feel this same feeling in my home, so we continued this same tradition with our kids. We want to be able to share that love and spirit of peace with Olena. We want to help her understand the love that we have for her but also the love that our Heavenly father has for her. We want her  to understand that we were led by him to meet her and bring her home. We want to offer her the priceless gift of an ETERNAL FAMILY.

President Eyring said this "Success in giving joy at Christmas usually involves help from others. It is rarely found in solitary effort. Joining with others spreads the joy and makes it more lasting. Shared joy can come from creating and offering simple gifts of love."

This is what we are trying to do. We love Olena and while this journey has been incredibly hard work, we know with all our heart that it will bring us everlasting joy. We know that you all can't follow the same journey as us. But you can join us on ours. We know that we can NOT do this alone. Our solitary effort is not enough. We need you all to spread our joy this Christmas.
I am truly grateful for this journey we are on. I know we were led by the spirit to our daughter and I know that our lives are forever changed for the better because of it. I echo the words of President Eyring when he said "I know that the spirit can lead each of us in many and simple ways, to give love and joy to others at this season of rejoicing."
We hope that you can each feel of the spirit of Christmas this year and help us, to offer the priceless gift of JOY to Olena this year. Merry Christmas!