Christmas isn't always the bright and cheery affair found in songs or movies. Can it be merry for a family struggling through unemployment, alienation, and terminal illness?

Written by Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Pastor Wayne Palmer, What Is Christmas? conveys how this season can be a complicated and difficult time of the year. For families working through hurt feelings, strained relationships-even the oncoming death of a loved one--Christmas can be a trying time.

Providing Scriptural narrative from the first Christmas, Palmer conveys how God has reconciled man to Himself through His Son and how His love gives us hope when re--establishing connections with family members.

The best things about Christmas are often those impossible to put a price on-- time spent together, renewed love, and the true joy the birth of our Savior brings.

For many, childhood memories of Christmas are magical-bright lights, and cherished time with family members. Sometimes, however, the passage of time makes those memories distant and elusive, and leaves one wondering whether it's possible to recapture the wonder of Christmas.

Concluding the booklet, Palmer asks the reader this: "Where do you find yourself this Christmas?" Wherever that place might be, the reader is reminded that God's gift of love in Jesus Christ can heal every wound and repair every broken relationship.