Not surprisingly, I was the first one up and almost three hours later I am still the only one up. I am usually the one who puts up most of the Christmas decorations with some help from the kids and I am also the designated take-downer to. I try to take them down on New Year's Day and since the house was quiet I went about my business and got started. Down came the tinsel in the dining room. I took down the stocking and the lights around the fireplace and stacked up the Christmas cards.
Next on my list was the Nativities. My family knows I love Nativities and have had some form or another of the nativity in my home since I was a child. I got my first Nativity when I was about 9 or 10 and in Primary in the LDS Church. It was a cardboard cutout of the nativity and the artwork was awesome. I had it for many years and when I got married it was the first thing that went under our Christmas tree. About 10 years later when I lived in Page, AZ I made a Nativity set. I fell in love with a set in the Ceramic shop and so I spent many hours, cleaning the shapes, antiquing and glazing and then I painted them with chalk. They were gorgeous. Of course by then, I had about 5 kids and somehow baby Jesus lost a foot that first year. No one know how, but I still used this set and placed it on the piano or the bookcase each year. Eventually the chalk chipped off and now it is a beautiful clear glaze with an antiqued brown look.
Thus the beginnings of my Nativity sets. I have since added a Jim Shore Nativity set, a small white ceramic with gold trim set (a gift from my children), A snowman Joseph and snowman Mary holding baby Jesus ornaments, and a miniature nativity I found in Costa Rica.
Last year I found another nativity online that has the word Joy in the background and lights up. It is pure white and so we got it for me. This year Faye and her daughter Katie gifted me with a miniature nativity set they found at Savers. I fell in love with it. The little figures are so cute and they look ceramic but are a hard plastic with a washed brown finish. I found another set, but didn't add it to my collection (yet). It is made of glass and resides in the window of the drug store in Ephraim. I love how it sparkles and shines. It's awesome.
I have another set that is near and dear to my heart. It was one I purchased from Avon years ago when my children were small. It is made of plastic and is a Precious Moments set. My children loved this one and now our grandchildren play with it every year. I always worry that pieces will come up missing. I don't mind if the shepherd's crook is gone, or even one of the bales of hay, but that is not what goes missing.
Since I've had it out where the grandchildren can play with it, every year Baby Jesus goes missing. The first year He was pretty easy to find. The next year He disappeared and we finally found Him under the book case. Last year we searched and searched for Baby Jesus, but He was no where to be found. I always say a silent prayer that He will turn up and so I offered my prayer and put the rest of the pieces away until this year.
God always works in a mysterious way and so we still had not found Baby Jesus as I began putting out the various Nativity scenes this year and our other decorations. I got out the Precious Moments set and set it up sans Baby Jesus and then I got out the small lighted church I place next to it each year. To my amazement Baby Jesus was in the small church and so He took His regular place in the manger scene. And just like every year for the past 4 or 5 years, Baby Jesus came up missing again and we still don't know where He is. So as I put the pieces away again this year, I again offered a silent prayer for His return.
That is when I had an epiphany. Maybe you have already seen it, but sometimes I think Heavenly Father has to hit me in the head a couple of times to get the message across. Maybe it was because the house was so quiet and I had time to ponder, but for whatever reason, here's what I learned today: Our lives are all about finding Christ and our little Baby Jesus showed me that I need to be searching for Him daily. At first finding Him was easy, but as time progressed it became harder and harder and we almost didn't find Him at all. I count finding Him this year a small miracle and intervention at the last minute.
I think life is very like that in many ways. Sometimes it is easy to think about Christ and other times we tend to become distracted and let life get in the way of finding Christ on a daily basis and making Him and Heavenly Father a daily part of life.
What would happen if I never found Him. The thought does not bear thinking about. And so my prayer for this New Year is for a better connection to My Savior and my Heavenly Father, to find time daily to seek them out. For it is truly said, "That Wise Men Still Seek Him." May God bless each and every one of you and May He find a place in your hearts. Happy New Year.
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| LDS Primary Nativity |
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| Jim Shore Nativity Set |
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| Joy Nativity with light |
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| Precious Moments Nativity by Avon |
