No Preparation, No Feast

Making Christmas is no small feat. It requires months of preparation to find the right gift for the right person. That means you've got to know them and understand their need. Mary and Joseph prepared for the Virgin's birth of her Son, like most parents. We would have not only had baby things, but a crib or cradle. Mary and Joseph would have had very little to offer Jesus travelling on a donkey, even though Joseph was a very capable carpenter. It had to come as a huge surprise to Mary and Joseph that their Son, The Son of God, was to be laid in a manager. Humble from the start, Jesus shared in our humanity. Thinking about it, Jesus fit right in amongst all of His creation, confined no longer in the womb of His mother, Mary; whose womb was more spacious than the heavens. Mary contained God. This is a great mystery no one can fathom.

The right atmosphere plays an important part of Christmas. It will be Ryan's first at Grandma and Grampy's house, and I want to be sure it will be grand. Nathan is already amused with the Christmas Village Scene, which he continues to make personal, with added toy cars. There is a huge gold star on top of the large tree, with mostly gold balls. I have added my ocean collection all around, having many ornaments and shells, gathered from sea ports. There are sport balls, Currier and Ives. I have some chubby angels and lots of miniature white lights, and a Christmas heart that reads. "Our first Christmas."

The coffee table sports the nativity scene with one of three white Pointsetters plants, and a large white, Yankee Candle, cupcake scented. A white robed rendition of St. Nicholas, the Bishop from Myra, is on a shelf, and there is an empty glass candy dish and lid, waiting to be filled. It was my first husband's grandmothers, and a family heirloom. The room is filled with anticipation. Like Joseph and Mary, we wait, hopeful.

Christmas, a time old and new, and forever. Each item placed in our Christmas room reminds me of people that I love, have known and places that I've been. There presently are no gifts under the tree, as we ponder Christmas present, without distraction.

Tomorrow evening is Christmas Eve. and we will be transported back in time to another place where all of creation will rejoice with us. Adding our little prayer for "Peace on Earth, and Good Will toward men, we will Worship Him and sing praises to His name, Emmanuel. God is with us... then, now, and forever. And, you are there too, in my heart.