Finding the Blessings

Sitting by the nativity here at home made me think of another Christmas tradition we have established in our little family: our rather large Bethlehem Scene.  It isn't anything original.  It's not even something I thought of all on my own.  It is a bit of my childhood that I carried from the warm, palm-tree-swaying, tropical-Christmases I used to celebrate in my country of birth, Panama, which I transplanted to our cold, wet, yuky, rarely-perfectly-white-Christmases in our neck of the woods.

In Panama, most homes would have a Nativity Scene that includes the whole town of Bethlehem, reminiscing kind of like the Dickens' villages we are used to around here.  Stores pack accessories to add onto your Nativity so people can expand it year after year. 

Anyway, the kids have grown really fond of setting the Nativity every Christmas season, and this year it was no different, except for the fact that we were kind of late doing it.  Grant and I usually are the ones hard at work carefully unpacking each of the figurines after bringing the boxes upstairs from the basement.  We sit on the floor (which is becoming quite the challenge for me...yikes...) and unwrap: out come townspeople, sheep of every size, buildings, palm trees, fire pits, angels and of course, the main characters, everyone is there, including the innkeeper's dog.  The process is tedious, but painstakingly we accomplish it, and with each figurine that we unwrap, the wonder of Christmas starts coming alive.  Thinking about the layout of the land, and about details such as what to use for the clouds or whether a beige blanket makes more sense than white batting for the base gives my soul a time to ponder the events of that night long ago when a young-round virgen became the Mother of Our Lord.

There's a lot of discussion at the beginning, but once we get on a roll, Grant and I set the display, with Dylan coming in at the end to give his "expert advice" on how it doesn't make any sense to have something "here" rather than "there" or how last year's was much better than this one...nevertheless...

My point is, this tradition is one of my most beloved. 

After the frustrations involving the fact that some sheep are missing limbs or that palm trees need to be leaning against the camels to avoid them looking just like timber on the ground, we stand back and pause to admire the scene.  The angels, the shepherds, the chickens, the cat, the fishermen, the little drummer boy, the crooked star and even the crippled-little-lamb, all fill my heart with the blessing of Christmas present, future and past.  I think of my Mom who guided me every Christmas season on the task of setting our nativity back at home.  I think of my boys growing up and someday starting their own traditions on their own.  I think of our lives now...so hectic and complicated.  But most of all, I think of Our Savior, and the mystery of His life among us...

I'm not very good at being intentional about finding the blessings in my life.  However, I believe that's what the Lord is calling me to do right now, right here, sitting by the nativity display: find the blessings every single day.

I pray that the celebration of the birth of Jesus will turn on the light in our hearts so we can see the gift that God has tucked in there: the gift of His Son, and of eternal life with Him.  Nothing else really matters much.  May we be intentional about finding Him. In the precious name of Our Lord! Amen!