Shhhh! Do not tell anyone, but I hate decorating for Christmas.
I know, I have committed a terrible sin, by even thinking such a thing. Truly, I do not enjoy it at all. To me it is just another thing that I ‘must’ do. I used to love to do the outdoor lights, the indoor lights (all over the house), and various other decor, but that was when I worked part time, and had more time.
The one Christmas decor that I do still love to get out are my collection of nativity sets. Yes, that is right, I said sets. A number of years ago, I was frustrated by the fact that, no matter how hard I tried, my house just did not look as good at Christmas as the beautifully decorated stores. Since I knew I would never have their budget, or their expertise, I decided to stop competing with the impossible, and instead focus on what Christmas means to me.
As I was browsing through the clearance section of a store, after Christmas I saw a beautiful nativity set for sixty percent off (and for someone like me, with blood of the Scots coursing through my veins, it was something I could not resist). As I unpacked that set, the following Christmas season, I thought to myself, this is the perfect focus for my Christmas decor, because for me the focus of Christmas is the story of the birth of Jesus.
Since that time I have collected seven magnetic (my advent nativity for the fridge), hanging, lit or table top sets, plus countless smaller tree ornaments. A few of my sets have already been handed down to our kids, when it became apparent that they held special importance to them. And one of them I will share in the days to come (once I convince my man servants to haul them out of storage).
I may hate decorating, but each year it is these sets of plastic, ceramic, wood, metal, cloth and glass that take me out of the commercialism and chaos, and slow my pace as I contemplate the beautiful, world-changing puzzle that God put together when He sent His son to this Earth.
itsawonderfilledlife 