Luke 2:52
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.
My philosophy is; when the children and grandchildren come home-the holiday begins! Thanksgiving began the day after the ‘day’ as both our sons went to their wives’ families on the day. They enjoyed turkey, ham, lots of people, lots of work, lots of clean -up. We enjoyed turkey and all the sides-including pumpkin pie, at Cracker Barrel! Lots of people, no work and no clean-up. That all happened the next day!
On Friday we gave thanks to God with my mom, our sons, their wives, and our 3 grandsons. Our granddaughter had to work on ‘black Friday’. We had an Italian Thanksgiving with lasagna and salad and a variety of desserts. You can see the clan in the first photo. After a fun filled day of chatter, games, crafts, and lots more Italian food, we all fell into bed exhausted.
On Saturday our out-of-town son and his family helped us get ready for Christmas! First, Thanksgiving and fall had to be boxed and returned to storage while the ‘box exchange’ began. Put a fall box into the closet, take out 2 Christmas boxes. That’s the way the morning went while hubby and son did the outside decorating.
Two grandsons and I started opening the boxes labeled: Christmas. My nutcracker collection was discovered! The older grandson, Grant William, inspected each nutcracker and made any needed repairs. Somehow while they are quietly resting through spring, summer and fall, they often have broken arms, pieces fall off, and of course their hair needs a trip. Grant worked on all that. Once they were returned to pristine condition, they were ready to go on display! That was ‘little’s’ job.
Our youngest grandson, Preston Ronald, had to have a bubble bath in the whirlpool tub. That is always a lengthy and enjoyable process for him. He is our ‘pool guy’ and misses the Splish splash in the winter. After he was dried and dressed, he sized all of my nutcrackers and arranged them on the fireplace hearth in descending height order.
Such ordinary stuff, such fun memories families share about the blessings of togetherness. But why do we do all this work? We can enjoy a get together without all the extra planning, purchasing, preparing and presenting? I believe we want to be reminded-this upcoming Christmas celebration is not just an ordinary celebration. This is THE celebration to supersede all other celebrations! This is the one time that God came to earth and lived among us as He grew! He was an ordinary baby! What could be more emotion evoking than to watch a baby as they hit all their milestones, they grow into young men and women. Those around them enjoy watching them grow and comment on their growth in wisdom and stature.
Ordinary. Having no special or distinct features, normal. But this birth was anything but ordinary! First, the conception of this baby had never happened before, nor has it happened since! Then, the star that motivated the wise men to take a very long trip, made a path in the sky that had never been seen before. Their curiosity and belief that this was an extra-ordinary event, motivated them to keep on the trail of the star-until they reached the Christ! Long after Jesus outgrew his manger.
How about this? The lowest of the lowest class of people-shepherds- got to see this miracle first! Even the lowliest among us has a welcoming place by the side of Jesus!
While all of Bethlehem was asleep, while the Pharisees, Sadducees, zealot’s and even Roman officers were nestled in their beds, a King was born. The Savior of the world had arrived. God Himself became incarnate, in the flesh, and was born in the ‘ordinary’ way.
We have this entire next 4 weeks to plan, prepare and then present all the stuff we bought and wrapped and gifted, and cooked. Please don’t forget this is not an ordinary celebration. Remember the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this birth, life, death, burial and Resurrection. No, this was anything but ordinary!
How will you make your celebration focus on this extraordinary baby?
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