Great Expectations

     What is your favorite part of the Christmas season? 

     I love the decorations! The lights on a Christmas tree sparkling and bright...hung with ornaments full of memories...the nativity set of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus placed in the manger...candles and fireplaces and the warm glow that seems to surround this holiday!

     A few years back, one of our treasure hunts yielded boxes of old glass ornaments. They were similar to ornaments my mother-in-law used to decorate her house - even the ceiling of one room! The ornaments reminded us of Christmas' past, and the celebrations with her that we still treasure in our hearts.

     The ornaments were also fragile, some shattered when lifted gently from the box!

     The ones that made it were placed into this apothecary jar-

    

     Another decoration I treasure is the baby Jesus my son fashioned out of clay when he was in elementary school -

     

     The decorations we pull from boxes and set around our homes have a special place in our hearts. Filled with memories of family gatherings past, we expect them to set the stage for a perfect celebration full of new memories.

     We have great expectations for Christmas...

     But what happens when holiday reality doesn't live up to our expectations?

     If our expectations are for a perfect Christmas experience we may find that dream shattered like one of my fragile ornaments. 

     Christmas is the celebration of a child born in a stable in Bethlehem - a less than perfect setting! In all our decorating and preparation may we remember that it wasn't the setting, but rather baby Jesus' birth that makes our Christmas celebration perfect. 

     That Jesus Christ is the only reason we are celebrating at all...