In this article we're going to discuss probably the most famous birthday celebration all around the world, Christmas. Yes, believe it or not Christmas is a birthday. It's the birth of Jesus Christ.

Actually, if you want to be technical, December 25 is not the actual day of Christ's birth but we celebrate his birthday on this day because of things that are beyond the scope of this article. Thought you'd might like to know that though. Christmas is indeed the most popular birthday throughout most parts of the world, and the way we celebrate it varies greatly from one person to another. For most of us, Christmas actually starts the night before when we go to Christmas Eve church services. Here we usually celebrate the lighting of the candles, sing some Christmas Carols appropriate for church and end the service with "Silent Night" to a candle lit church. Then we come home, get the kids off to bed and start putting out the presents that "Santa" left for them.

The next morning we wake up, gather round the tree and watch with wonder as our starry eyed children open up their presents. It's really quite a sight to see. After presents are opened we'll have a big Christmas breakfast, maybe pancakes or waffles, eggs and bacon. Let's not forget the danish and sweet buns for after. Usually around now is when you'll have problems keeping your kids from opening up their Christmas Santas covered in chocolate.

Later on in the day we'll have the family over for dinner or we'll go to a relative's house. The meal will have just about everything you'd expect for a Christmas feast; turkey, stuffing, candy yams, pumpkin pie and the list goes on and on. After dinner we'll open up some more presents with the rest of the family. Here is where the real gift giving kicks in and we end up needing a U-Haul to bring all our stuff home in. It's the only time of the year where we go home with more than what we came with.

Of course, no gift giving session would be complete without a bunch of Christmas cookies to munch on. And they come in all shapes and sizes, from Christmas trees to Santas to candy canes. Oh, and let's not forget the Christmas tree lined with candy canes, tinsel and ornaments. After we're done visiting with relatives maybe we hop in the car and go driving around looking at Christmas lights. There are some houses that spend thousands of dollars on their lights and are the talk of the whole town.

Finally, the night comes to an end and we head off to bed. Hopefully, at least for a few brief moments, we remember who's birthday we just celebrated and the reason why. It's so easy to forget the significance of one of the most important birthdays we can celebrate. It's easy to forget that the person born on this day has changed the lives of billions of people in the last 2000 years. Way too easy. .

By: Michael Russell