Enjoying His Presents

I wanted our family’s Christmas celebration to focus more on the Savior and less on commercialism. As I pondered this idea, I was reminded of the many gifts the gospel has given us in addition to the promise of eternal life, the greatest of all (see D&C 14:7). I realized that we needed to be more thankful for those priceless gifts.

I found twenty-five scriptures that mention a gift we have received or will receive from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

I typed the references on slips of paper and put them into a tin I had labeled with a phrase from Moroni 10:18—“Remember that every good gift cometh of Christ.” [Moro. 10:18]

Each day of December, a family member would draw a paper from the tin. We’d locate the scripture and read it aloud, identifying the gift it described. I kept a master list of the references and gifts in case the children needed help identifying the specific gift mentioned.

This took only a few minutes daily, but during those minutes we thought about and expressed gratitude for the many marvelous gifts we have received from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And isn’t that what Christmas is about?

Here are some of the references I have used and the gifts they mention:

1. Atonement	John 3:16–17
2. Scriptures	D&C 20:8–11
3. Baptism	3 Ne. 11:33
4. Testimony	Alma 5:45–46
5. Prayer	3 Ne. 13:9–13
6. Earth	Isa. 45:18
7. Repentance	D&C 58:42
8. Spiritual gifts	D&C 46:11–26
9. Music	D&C 25:12
10. Jesus Christ	Luke 2:1–14

You can personalize the list for your own family.—Janet L. Brodie, Kendall Park, New Jersey