Will the Christ Child Come?
One Christmas we had an interesting experience that I would like to
share. Halfway through December we were doing the regular evening
things when there was a knock at the door. We opened it to find a
small package with a beautiful ceramic lamb inside. We looked at the
calendar and realized that the 12 days of Christmas were beginning!
We waited excitedly for the next night's surprise and only then, with
the gift of a matching shepherd, did we realize that the lamb was
part of a nativity set.
Each night we grew more excited to see what piece we would receive.
Each was exquisitely beautiful. The kids kept trying to catch the
givers as we slowly built the scene at the manger and began to focus
on Christ's birth.
On Christmas Eve, all the pieces were in place, all but the Baby
Jesus. My 12-year-old son really wanted to catch our benefactors and
began to devise all kinds of ways to trap them. He ate dinner in the
minivan, watching and waiting, but no one came. Finally, we called
him in to go through our family's Christmas Eve traditions. But
before the kids went to bed, we checked the front step - - no Baby
Jesus! We began to worry that my son had scared them off. My
husband suggested that maybe they dropped the Jesus and there
wouldn't be anything coming. Somehow, something was missing that
Christmas Eve.
There was a feeling that things weren't complete. The kids went to
bed and before I went to bed, I again checked to see if the Jesus had
come - - no, the doorstep was empty. In our family, the kids can open
their stockings when they want to, but they have to wait to open any
presents until Dad wakes up. So one by one they woke up very early
and I also woke up to watch them. Even before they opened their
stockings, each child checked to see if perhaps during the night the
Baby Jesus had come.
Missing that piece of the set seemed to have an odd effect. At least
it changed my focus. I knew there were presents under the tree for
me and I was excited to watch the children open their gifts, but
first on my mind was the feeling of waiting for the ceramic Christ
Child. We had opened just about all of the presents when one of the
children found one more for me buried deep beneath the limbs of the tree.
He handed me a small package from my former visiting teaching
companion. This sister was somewhat less-active in the church. I had
been her visiting teacher for a couple of years and then, when she
was asked to be a visiting teacher, she requested to go with me. I
had learned over time they didn't have much for Christmas, so that
their focus was on the children. It sounded like she didn't get many
gifts to open, so I had always given her a small package -- new dish
towels, the next year's Relief Society lesson manual -- not much, but
something for her to open.
I was touched when at church on the day before Christmas, she had
given me this small package, saying it was just a token of her love
and appreciation. As I took off the bow, I remembered my friendship
with her and was filled with gratitude for knowing her and for her
kindness and sacrifice in this giving me a gift. But as the
paper fell away, I began to tremble and cry. There in the small
brown box was the Baby Jesus! He had come!
I realized on that Christmas Day, that Christ will come into our
lives in ways that we don't expect. The spirit of Christ comes into
our hearts as we serve one another. We had waited and watched for Him
to come, expecting the dramatic "knock at the door and scurrying of
feet" but He came in a small, simple package that represented
service, friendship, gratitude and love.
This experience taught me that the beginning of the true spirit of
Christmas comes as we open our hearts and actively focus on the
Savior. But we will most likely find Him in the small and simple
acts of love, friendship and service that we give to each other.
This Christmas I want to feel again the joy of knowing that Christ
is in our home. I want to focus on loving and serving. More than
that, I want to open my heart to Him all year that I may see Him again.
"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21 NIV)
[ Written by Gaye Willis -- from Joyce Guy ]
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