Nativity

Luke 2:40
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

As I watched my grandchildren running wildly through the house during our annual Christmas pajama party, I sat (amongst the Mr. Potato Head parts and Lala Loopsey dolls) and wondered how Mary and Joseph felt when Jesus was three. OK, really I was wondering where Mr. Potato Head’s nose went (hopefully not into Roko’s mouth) and how come the three years olds never step on Hot Wheels when my feet are totally bruised from them. But I have been thinking about Jesus as a toddler all season long.

Mary and Joseph knew they were raising the Son of God. So what was it like for them? Were they more diligent in telling him stories from the scriptures? Were they more careful not to let him get hurt? Did they worry they weren’t feeding him the best foods or keeping him warm enough? In other words were they like any other parents?


Did they marvel at his smiles and giggles?


Did they watch him run with his cousins and hope he didn’t fall and get hurt or put a hole in the wall?


Did they teach him to play nice with everyone even girls and even if they’re having a tea party?


Did they build forts with him and snuggle him close?

The scriptures don’t tell us what He was like as a toddler except for that one verse in Luke. But I’m sure He was sweet and kind and polite and fun. Just like my grandchildren.

Now, if I could just find Mr. Potato Head’s nose.

No Snow

We don't have snow here. So we have to make our own. This year we have plastic snowflakes in the windows and hung from the trees. We have snowflake lights on the house.




So we're TRYING to have a white Christmas. But mostly we have rain.

So today, Kelly and I had a rainy day adventure. We put on our rain boots instead of snow boots. Mine are new; they were a birthday present. Kelly's are pink with flowers.



We kicked the leaves on the ground because there were no snow drifts.


We visited Rudolf and an angel.


And we found one small puddle to jump in. But no ice to skate on which was OK because neither Kelly nor I have ice skates or know how to ice skate.

We don't have snow here. We have rain.