What does Christmas Mean to You?

By Makenyze O'Dell

Christmas is a day of love, time spent with family, and church. For example, there’s foods my family makes that are only made during Christmas time, and it gives my family and I something to look forward to.

Some people don’t get the opportunity to experience something like I do every Christmas. Some people think Christmas is just about getting presents, and if you don’t get what you want, then you won’t have a good Christmas. However, that’s not true at all. Christmas is not about the presents or money; it is about family, Jesus, loved ones, and the joy you can bring to people. 

Some people during winter have this feeling of sadness, loneliness, being tired all the time, being less social, and losing interest in their favorite activities. People don’t like winter for this reason, but when it hits two days until Christmas, a lot of people’s spirits rise. This is when you're spending the most time with your family, and friends, sleeping in, and going out. 

This is also called SAD (Seasonal Affective Depression), a type of depression. The shorter days and less daylight could be a trigger for a chemical reaction in the brain. Late fall or early winter is when the feeling starts, and it ends when spring or summer comes about. This could impact work, food, celebrations, and recreation. All of this is a cause of the seasonal depression, and as someone who gets it in the winter, Christmas is one of the only things pushing me through. 

For the people who don’t celebrate Christmas, being around or seeing people can still bring joy. Even if I didn’t celebrate Christmas seeing all the decorations and people with their families would bring me happiness. The whole month of December is the days counting down to the birth of Jesus Christ; it’s a celebration! You can’t forget the main reason for Christmas either, and the reason it's called Christmas is because the word Christ is in the word which is the main overall reason we celebrate it.

My friend, Ava Barker says, “My favorite thing to do on Christmas is going to church with my family. I like to be reminded of the importance of the holiday and what we are truly celebrating. Christmas is often overlooked by the expenses, and gifts that bring us joy, but I enjoy celebrating the only joy maker.” 

On the date of Christmas, Jesus was born; the only reason we have this holiday. Jesus being born is such an important event that people go to church to be reminded of the importance of Christmas and the main reason it’s a holiday. It reminds us to love one another and give love to our Savior. We are all so important and we need to tell the ones just how important they are, God wants us to know how important we are, and by telling others just how much they mean is a choice we can make as Christians and followers of the Lord. 

Matthew 2:10-12 in the Bible says, “When the wise men saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

Another one of my friends, Jacob Gilbreth, says “For me, I don’t have a lot of extended family and during the school year. I’m not home a whole lot, so to me, Christmas means that I get to spend time with my family at home opening presents and enjoy talking to them, which gives me a break from the stress work and school brings.” 

If you’re lucky, most of your family is either very close to where you live, or they just live in the same town. Having family that’s close by means a lot to people, and some people wish they had that. A big thing around holidays is spending time with family and seeing the ones you can, but some people don’t get that since their family members live far. If you do get that chance to see family, just know that not a lot of people get that chance, and you would be surprised how many people wish they had that. 

 Christmas means something different for everyone. A lot of people don’t like Christmas or celebrate it, which can be a hard time for those who don’t like this holiday when it comes around due to various reasons, but Christmas is just such a big and thankful holiday. The people who don’t celebrate it are still very happy because they don’t have to go to school. 

The happiness it brings is just something else that makes everyone feel good. This holiday brings so much happiness to me with spending time with family and friends, eating, giving gifts, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, and break from school. The foods that I only get to eat around Christmas time bring so much happiness and memories of past Christmases that I've experienced. Along with going to church, there’s a lot of things that bring back old memories. I know a lot of people can relate to this because everyone has their own traditions when it comes to holidays.

Amirra Bailey says, “I spend time with my family I try to enjoy the time I have with my family that I don't see all the time. It makes me happy, ‘cause being around loved ones is a special time that a lot of people don’t get to experience.” A lot of people’s favorite part of this holiday is spending time with family and getting to talk to those you haven’t been able to see in a while. 

Kolbyn Price says, “I spend time with family and friends. I enjoy getting to see my distant family because they are barely in town. The break is also nice because the extra time off allows me to travel to see family that can’t come to Bowling Green. I also get a lot of time to hang out with friends, whether we go do something or just chill at someone’s house. It's always fun whatever we end up doing.” 

This is a common thing students do on Christmas break with friends and family. If you aren’t traveling to see family, you’re more than likely hanging out with friends for the most part.

Christmas is an amazing holiday, and one of my favorite ones. It means a lot to me and my family to celebrate Jesus being born and the start of a new beginning for a lot of people. The time spent with family means so much to a lot of people because they might never get to see them. 

If you aren’t as excited about Christmas this year because it might be the first Christmas without that one person or pet, they’re right there with you. Just because you may not be able to see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Christmas will be amazing this year if you do or don’t celebrate it. I hope that through Christ, your Christmas will be absolutely amazing.