The Nativity and the gingerbread house

Many of you know that we have a special tradition in our home – “The Journey of the Nativity”. Mary, Joseph and the wise men start the month of December upstairs in one of the kids rooms and mysteriously (ok the kids secretly) move them when no one is watching. Until finally they reach the stable downstairs in the dining room. Very fun and a constant reminder of what we are celebrating.

Another fun tradition that the kids love is to make and decorate a gingerbread house…then eat it over the next few days. It ends up looking very sad, but the kids enjoy it very much!

Yesterday, as I sat at the dining room table having my morning cup of coffee, there it was so very clearly….the contrast between the secular “holiday season” and Christmas, the celebration of our Lord and Saviors birth.



I laughed as the words silliness & absurdity came to mind.

And then I realized that I was only seeing part of the scene…look at what is blocked by the silly gingerbread house…



And isn’t it how some of us are at this time of year…so caught up in the stuff and silliness that we completely loose sight of the manger and it’s importance in our lives?

Is it about Santa? Elves? Shopping for the best toys? The perfect tree? Snowmen? red nosed Reindeer? The lights on our homes? Or is it about celebrating the beginning of Jesus' life that leads to God's greatest gift ever given:

"At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn't find the body of the Master Jesus. They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, 'Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up...'" (Luke 24:1-8)

Keep your eyes on the true reason for the season...

The song "To Ever Live Without Me" by Jody McBrayer says what I am feeling today...

The choices, even though you knew the lines
You'd have to cross for me
You made them anyway
Voices, as you knelt there in the garden
'Neath the olive tree
You heard me call your name
I cannot pretend to understand it all
But heaven knew the reason you were there

Chorus
It was all about a man
It was all about a cross
It was all about the blood that was shed
so I would not be lost
It was all about the love
That was bigger than a life
It was all about a freedom that was given
through your sacrifice
'Cause you would rather die
than to ever live without me

Helpless, that's humanity without your saving grace
So misled
Selfless, you could have called ten thousand angels
Down to take your place
But you took mine instead
I cannot pretend to understand it all
But heaven knew the reason you were there

A greater love has no one than this
That he will lay his life down for his friends

I am so thankful for the celebration of where it all began, the moment when the Word became flesh and was born to a virgin 9 months later. Words cannot express my gratitude, my love and my emotion. Thank you just doesn't seem to be enough for the gift he gives me every day.