I used to look forward to Sunday, especially when I was growing up. It was a very special day for family and friends. Most of us did not go away very much through the week those years so when Sunday came it was a day to visit friends and relatives or many times just go for a ride to see what the crops were doing. We were especially happy when holidays arrived, as our lives were not very exciting. Even today it seems Christmas very seldom comes. Only once a year and soon it is over — a day and a night if that is the whole of it. It seems not much more durable than the little toys that one buys on the street corner. But surely that need not and should not be the whole of Christmas. Only a single day of generosity service of a selfish year. If every gift is a token of personal thought, a friendly feeling, an unselfish interest in the joy of others, then that thought, that feeling, may remain after the gift is given. I think that makes it all worthwhile because we are thinking of others, sharing our time, our talents, our gifts and our love. If only for a little while, it makes for a lot of love shared with others and that is what I think Christmas is all about. God gave us the very greatest gift of all! That is what Christmas is. The Steen Opportunity Extension Club had their annual Christmas party at the Melba Boeve home on Tuesday where they enjoyed a Christmas luncheon together and also a gift exchange. Joan Hoogeveen, Lucy Van Wyhe, Henrietta Huenink, Winnie Scholten and Mildred Paulsen attended the Wednesday meeting of the Christian Women’s Club at United Methodist Church in Rock Rapids. It began with a luncheon with the preschool from the school serenading them with Christmas music. Christmas will soon be here. The Hills-Beaver Creek schools will dismiss early on Dec. 22. There will be no school until Monday, Jan. 3. The Steen Reformed Church will hold their all church (adults only) Christmas party at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Luverne Pizza Ranch. There will be a gift exchange.Orrin and Bernice Aukes attended the children’s Christmas program at Wesley United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls Sunday evening. Their granddaughter, Taylor Telford, daughter of Lisa Telford, Sioux Falls, was in the program. Joyce and Jo Aykens attended a family gathering at the home of Ben and Elaine Korselman at Hull, Iowa, Saturday afternoon. A Christmas Eve candlelight and communion service will be at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 24, at Steen Reformed Church. Bring your white gifts, which are gifts of food and other things to share with the needy.The big event this week is Christmas which comes on Saturday so most of us will be busy with family, friends, gifts and food. It is a very special time for all of us. Christmas would mean nothing if it were not shared with someone. It is a festival which cannot be indulged in alone. The gaudy red ribbon about the simplest gift causes the gift to take on meaning which it did not possess before. Just as a single red rose may light up a room, so our word or card written in sincerity may brighten the dimmest winter day. That is why Christmas messages are sent and will continue to be sent. Humanity realizes this and that is why Christmas will go on being celebrated. It is an eternal festival as we remember the baby born in a manger, our Lord and the Savior of all mankind. Merry Christmas to all!