Most people plan to spend the holidays nestled in a place filled with love, standing under some mistletoe and opening gifts with family and friends.
Others will spend it in a place filled with criminals, in a cool cement square, opening their gift from the Johnson County Jail ------ a candy bar----- with people they hardly know.
Local residents, incarcerated in the Johnson County Jail, are there by their own doing. But Christmas behind bars is something most of us don't ever think about.
"It's hard to be away" said a clean cut looking inmate, Brian Conner.
Being away makes it harder when close-knit family ties are broken by cold metal bars.
"I come from a real close family" said Conner, as he stares through the window he'll see his family through this Christmas.
But he's not alone.
Joe Barger, jail commander, said spirits are usually down throughout the holiday season.
"They are bound to be more depressed because they are not at home, others don't seem to care ---at least that's what they say.
"For a lot of them it is just another day." Conner said.
Local resident George Whirley is doing his best to alleviate a little of the hurting. He's an ordained minister and member of Southwood Assembly of God who is reaching out to the inmates.
His and his colleague, Mike Eck of Trafalgar, are making a difference in the lives of criminals through a twice weekly ministry on Tuesdays and Sundays.
Whirley's had a lot of experience volunteering for jail ministries. During the past eight years and has touched the lives of inmates all over Indiana.
In addition to Whirley's ministry, the jail also tries to help spread holiday cheer by feeding inmates a special dinner on Christmas day --- usually consisting of ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn. Barger said. It's definitely sad to be jail during the holidays, said inmate Kevin Amburgy.
" Not even to be with my wife and children. I have two daughters -- 3 and 6 ," Amburgy said.
"I have to miss all of their Christmas plays at church and at school," the soft spoken man said. This will be his first Christmas behind bars.
But being in jail forced him to rethink his crime of theft, which he says he truly regrets.
He's not completely alone. He says he's found a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the help of Whirley.
But simply reaching the inmate isn't Whirley ultimate goal -- it's reaching the families.
Whirley, who describes himself as looking like a biker dude said ministers dressed in suits and ties have a more difficult time relating to the men, since most inmates don't take the well-dressed men seriously.
Whirley realized the inmates wouldn't have much of a Christmas, so he decided to have a Christmas party for them, where there will be caroling, some treats and the Christmas story.
" The system has alienated them. Most of their families have turned their backs on them," Whirley said. Whirley has a special compassion for the men because he knows what it's like to be in prison -- he's been there himself. In the late 1980s, Whirley spent time in jail on drug and alcohol - related charges.
"Most individuals are pretty excited that an individual will take time and do that ( minister to them )," Whirley said. "I don't deserve any of the credit, God deserves it all. "
Inmates will be given some gifts, other than the candy bar. Southwood Assembly is paying for a gold toned cross necklaces for women and a wooden cross on a thin rope for men.
Even though the inmates' memories of this Christmas will not be filled with the traditional Yuletide traditions, people like Whirley help teach the inmates the true meaning of the holiday. And that may make it a little easier to get through the season away from home.