December 21….It just can’t be!!!

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How did it get to be so close to Christmas……but, I’m just not ready to do this.  Oh, Dear!   I guess that was a thought Mary might have had as she prepared to take a donkey ride at 9 months pregnant.  The birth happened anyway, whether she was prepared or not….and so it is with us also.  Expectations and dreams of the perfect Christmas will be set aside, and the simple and meaningful will take its place.  Mary was with the one she loved most.  It was quiet and peaceful.  The animals I am sure gave them warmth and company.  Hoping yours do also.  What is done will have to be just right.  Mary’s plans of having her baby in a familiar place with the things she had prepared had to be put aside.  What she had with her would have to do.  Food this year will be simple, and the gifts will be more meaningful because there are fewer of them.  

A few years ago, I found this Cabbage Patch preemie with his blue lamb pajamas.  He became the perfect prop for being Baby Jesus in the manger.  I made the gauge-type blanket from an old mattress cover and bound it with white cotton that had gold stars on it.  This year I changed his manger bed to a flat rectangle basket, and added shredded paper for a softer place to sleep.  This pleased the oldest Gkid greatly, since he thought the traditional manger was way to hard for a baby.  The Gkids find playing with Baby Jesus and taking care of him a part of the meaning of Christmas.  The kittens keep climbing into the manger for a look, and the sleeping lambs keep the baby warm.  Baby Jesus gets fed often, and held, and kissed, and put to bed a dozen times a day, and even lost somewhere in the house.  Then the hunt is on to find Baby Jesus……so it goes in life……we lose sight of the Babe and the meaning, and go on a hunt to find the true spirit of it all.  Seeing Christmas through the eyes of children is the only way to go.  And making it fun and meaningful puts life back into the Story.

I decided that there must have been mice hiding in and around the straw and hay that fed the animals in the place where Baby Jesus slept.  So, there are a few mice hiding in the Christmas tree with its many straw ornaments.  The Gkids have not found them yet, but talking about how it might have been will help make Jesus’ birth more real.  

There is still time to get a few things done, but I will keep Mary in mind, and not stress.  It all turned out just fine.  Mary’s newborn Son came into this world of ours with all He needed.  The gift of Jesus alone is all we really need.  I guess I am ready after all!   Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you!  Sip some tea and enjoy the ones you love.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Why I let my kids scream – Rule #2
• Hail, Mary
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