The Day After Christmas

Christmas was a wonderful occasion this year. Here are just a few of my observations; no matter the poor economy, everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed being with friends and loved ones. We spent Christmas Eve night and the first few hours of Christmas morning with the family in Saint Christine. I felt a little ashamed remembering the many Christmas's I've spent having much more in the way of presents to offer my family, and having much more food on the table, but my family understood.
Christmas is a time of hope for our family; we hope for better days, we hope for peace in the world around us, and especially here in the Philippines.
As an American, I guess I'm accustomed to the commercialism that accompanies Christmas in the US. When I see the small gifts that people here exchange my heart is heavy that especially the children might be missing the presents that they see others receive. Over the years in the US I’ve thought that we focus too much on gift giving during Christmas and not on the true meaning of the occasion. But I really think that there is a balance to things and that some gift giving especially for the children is a good thing. I hope that next Christmas I can do a much better job of providing for our family.
Wishing all of you the Very Happiest of times this Christmas season and a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.