This hilarious and moving account of one family's frantic countdown to Christmas Eve follows the trials of a Christian minister as he tries to put up a giant Christmas tree, rearranges his schedule to attend his children's concerts, struggles against mobs at the mall, and participates in the church choir's first attempt at Handel's Messiah. Familiar stories of family events during the holidays accompany quirky, entertaining accounts of the particular challenges a minister encounters, such as his desperate nationwide search for goats for the church's Christmas pageant. The joy and frustration of the Christmas season are captured in this story of a family's struggle to find the genuine meaning of the holiday.