December 2 – “Lights”

We had to make a quick detour on our way to WalMart the other night.  Seems Chris got word that Nathan had put up some impressive Christmas lights.  She just had to see them, and hey, I’m no Scrooge.  We did get a bit of a surprise when we drove up, though.  We saw movement in the yard, and then a ladder.  Sure enough, there he was, adding even more lights to the trees in his front yard.  I thought from what Chris had told me that he was finished.  There were lights along the roof of the house.  Santa and his reindeer were flopping around in the wind up on the roof.  He put up one of those blow-up things that lights up as well.  He even had some kind of light bulb on the ground pointed at the house that rotated around and around to provide a light show extravaganza.  Gotta say I was duly impressed.  Nathan’s take on the whole thing?  “It’s all just for April, you understand.”  Of course it is.  Oh, and speaking of impressed, he showed me his new ladder.  Goes up to ten feet or so as an A-frame, but it can also transform until it can reach twenty feet.  High enough to get to the roofline of his second story.  Now that’s a tool.  Aar.  Aar.  Aar.

And of course all that inspiration put the pressure on me to get our own outside lights put up.  We don’t attempt anywhere near the extent of display that Nathan did, but we do like to have a little bit of flair.  That means hanging icicle lights around the eaves.  And then we always put out our little, unassuming, lit up from within, Precious Moments-looking figurines of Joseph, Mary and the Baby Jesus.  I had a few false starts this year.  Hung the extension cord backwards for one.  Had to pull it down and start over.  Then the first two strands of lights kept blowing the circuit.  I finally just switched them out with the new ones we bought at the after-Christmas sales last year.  They worked like a charm.  Now I think all we have left to do is return all these decorations boxes to the attic until after Christmas … when we start the whole process over again, in reverse.  Ain’t Christmas grand? 

James 5:13 says, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.”

Father, I do love the whole season that is our attempt to celebrate your coming down here to live with us.  In the midst of the festivities … and the preparations … help us to remember that it is, after all, all about you.  Amen.