Christmas was the most wonderful time of the year for me as a kid. The promise of new toys, the smells of Balsam Christmas tree sap, baked cookies and ribbon candies enveloped us. Locating the true Santa Claus while shopping with my parents was also an important mission for my brother and me. Things changed for me when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and church became a pleasant habit. My conversion rekindled my interest in Christmas, but this time for a totally different set of reasons than I had embraced as a child. From this point onward, Christ became the very center of this marvelous season.