Ask anyone how to set up a nativity scene and you will get various answers.
Some may put the figures around just as it was set it up when they were a child.
Some may set up the scene a bit differently each year.
Some may set it up according to the Gospel’s account.

Those that follow Scripture may choose to have the Wise Men across the room.
They move the Three Kings a little closer to the manger each day.
They justify that decision by saying that the Wise Men were traveling.
They are correct; yet we usually see the Three Kings included in most nativity scenes.

Read More...

There is a small cabinet above my refrigerator.
I keep large serving bowls there.
I have glass baking dishes there.
In the back of the cabinet, I have quite an assortment of mugs.

What is it about mugs?
They seem to multiply.
They are the perfect gift, until you realize that you simply do not have the room for any more.
They can take over a cabinet in the blink of an eye.

Read More...

I was getting dressed, since I had to leave early for an appointment.
The phone rang and I heard the familiar Face Time sound.
I knew that it could only be one person.
I knew it was my daughter calling because my granddaughter wanted to talk to me.

I was on a time crunch but nothing will stop me from answering that special call.
I accepted the call and immediately saw my oldest granddaughter’s face.
It’s Grandma, she said excitedly as if she hadn’t seen me in years.
Well, hello, sweetheart, I said and she giggled.

Read More...

We decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.
It is one of my favorite days.
To see the house transformed in a matter of hours, brings me so much joy.
It is a large undertaking, but well worth the effort.

There are usually many willing hands to help.
Even as adults, when any of my children are here on that day, they do the jobs they used to do.
As we decorated, they each had their job when they were young.
They do those same jobs, without prompting, even though they now have homes of their own.

Read More...

There is no room, was often said.
The couple searched for some soft bed.
Where their long awaited baby’s cry,
Would pierce the silence of the sky.

But the sky rang loud with angels white,
Who announced the birth in dark of night.
To a sleeping town with sleeping hearts,
Unaware of what God would start.

Read More...

I remember the church I went to as a girl.
I can see the stained glass windows in my memory.
I can hear the wooden pews creak when anyone sat down.
I can smell the old wood and the pungent aroma of incense that was used in various liturgies.

It was Christmas time that I loved the most.
I remember the large wooden Nativity that was set up on the side of the church.
It was behind the altar rail so it could be seen but not touched by little hands.
I was mesmerized by the figures of Mary and Joseph; the sheep looked so real to me.

Read More...

This is the time of year to listen to Christmas music.
I confess that I begin listening a bit earlier each year.
I used to wait until after Thanksgiving.
I usually stop listening a few days after Christmas.

Maybe it is the headlines in the news.
Maybe it is the uncertainty of our times.
Maybe it is just a bit of nostalgia.
Perhaps it is a little bit of all those reasons.

Read More...

This Whisper was first published on May 29, 2012.
I actually wrote it years before.
I was asked to read this at a women’s Christmas brunch years before that.
It is good to remember again the truth of these words.

When I have to wrap a present, I must pull down the attic stairs and climb up to get a box.
I have climbed up to my attic many times, sure that I will find the perfect box.
I discover that I have every size box but the one I need.
Even when I find the right one, I realize the wrapping paper is six inches short.
I have yet to find a tactful way to hide that mistake.

Read More...

My daughter sent the text to all of us.
I stood there in the grocery store and giggled out loud.
I love getting updates about my granddaughters.
This one was so sweet and so innocent.

It had happened once before.
My daughter laughed about it later, but at the time she wasn’t so sure.
You never know what is going to come out of a child’s mouth.
Especially if that child is a toddler learning new words every day.

Read More...

She had been burning the candle at both ends.
She knew it but she had to get things done.
She knew her attitude was not the best.
But all of the preparations do not just happen.

All of the gifts do not buy themselves.
All of the cards do not get magically written.
She was losing her Christmas spirit and she knew it.
She just didn’t know how to get it back.

Read More...