Holidays  By Maryssa Rehagen   Holidays are the most family-friendly time of the year. So many good stories and traditions come out of the holidays, especially around Christmas. The holidays can also be a stressful time, though. We don’t see Christmas as simple and joyful anymore. There are so many sales from stores trying to get people to buy, buy, and buy. Radio stations play Christmas music way before Thanksgiving. And just as if it couldn’t get any more complicated, there is mailing Christmas cards, putting up decorations and lights, and anything else that people can think of. But what if Christmas could be more simple and carefree? Two thousand years ago we had the first Christmas. The baby Jesus was born in a stable with animals surrounding him. Not a very pleasant way to be born, right? No one knew any different back then. People had to work for their food, and life was simple. That is not what it has become today. Of course, things have changed a little since then. We buy our groceries easily from a store, and we have everything with the push of a button. Christmas has turned into the most commercialized holiday of the year. The bad thing is that it is more about getting presents than giving them. Kids are spoiled because they get whatever they want, and when they do not you hear kids complaining in a store that they want something and their parents won’t buy it. If we all took a step back and looked at the real meaning of Christmas, things would be different. Jesus was the Messiah. He came to free us from sin, but we still look at as Him giving us the right way to heaven. We are so concerned about getting there that we do not live our lives for Him. If we took the time to live for Him during Christmas, we could learn something about Him. If there were never wise men, we would not have thought of gift-giving. The only difference between our gift-giving and the gifts of the Magi is that we give gifts out of want or because we feel like we have to. Their gifts were given out of praise because He was to save the world. What if we gave gifts out of praise? Then we probably would not have greed or selfishness. If we gave gifts out of need to poor families, there would be more giving than receiving. That is what my parents always taught me:  Give selflessly, and be happy that you gave someone something that they wanted. If everyone did that, the world would honestly be a better place.