Our hope and prayers are for you and your family to have a most blessed Christmas. We hope you find time to relax and enjoy the spirit and real reason we celebrate Christmas.

We celebrate for many reasons but it is important for each of us to realize the importance of the day we know as Christmas. I could easily re-print from the Bible, the second chapter of Luke in is entirety, but it is much more effective when you read that yourself . Actually, it is much more fun and interesting if you read that passage to and along with others.

My wife started this as a Christmas Eve tradition in our family when our sons Tilman and Will were infants. They are both now adults and, along with Will’s wife, Courtney, and Tilman’s fiancée Sarah, our Brookhaven home will be filled for Christmas. We are quite excited that they can all make the trip to be with us. As a family, we have always attended our church’s Christmas Eve service, returned home and read the story of Jesus birth.

I usually do the reading, but I may make an exception this year and allow our sons to join the reading. They don’t know of my plan, so don’t tell.

Christmas is about families. I hope you get to share this time with alI, or as many as possible, of the members of your family. If you have a tradition of your own, cherish and enjoy, and build memories that can be passed along.

As I write this column, I want each of you to know that the entire staff of The Daily Leader is thankful to be able to serve you. It is our pleasure and privilege to serve you on a daily basis. We hear from many of you through the year and sincerely appreciate your thoughts and the wisdom you pass along.

If you are a subscriber, we thank you. We write our daily editions with you in mind. We try every day to offer news and information that makes your life a little easier. We like to think we bring an opportunity for joy and peace in a world that is full of clutter.

If you are an advertiser, we are appreciative of the trust that you place in us to deliver your important message to our readers’ homes. Advertising is also news and not only helps your specific business, but also shares the story of a productive and vibrant marketplace to the entire Brookhaven, Lincoln County and Southwest Mississippi area.

If you are a contributor to our newspaper, we thank you. You help us accomplish our daily task of improving the quality of life for everyone. We report, sponsor and help several community events that offer goodwill to those less fortunate among us. If you contributed to the Holiday Food Pantry or something else, we thank you and know that you will receive much joy and satisfaction from your donation of time, money or influence.

If you are a reader, we thank you for the time you give us on a daily basis. We like to share good news and each of you can help us do just that. When you know of special things people do, please bring it to our attention.

Christmas is a time of sharing the good news foretold in Luke:2.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Otis Raybon is the publisher of The Daily Leader. Contact him at otis.raybon@dailyleader.com or (601) 833-6961.