Merry Christmas friends,

I hope this finds you and yours well. I think of you often and wonder how you are faring in these strange times, so I’m making a quality decision to hit the breaks and catch up with y’all as we head into these final preparation days for Christmas. I have a delicious pie for you! And, of course, I have some Advent thoughts to share before we’re done here. If you know me at all, you’re expecting that. You know I aim to live listening for the Holy, and especially during this season where we celebrate the arrival of our sweet Jesus, Light of the World! In many ways it seems our world has never been darker, amen? Come, Lord Jesus. 

Longtime readers know something else about me. I live looking for humor! Laughter is good meds. The Word says it and I believe it. My favorite funny of Christmas 2020 comes from a little scene I overheard in a boutique early in the season. I’m an unapologetic people watcher who can’t help but listen to every conversation my curious ears can make out! This particular day, the listening was way too easy. A rather loud lady in the store I was shopping in was discussing gift choices for her daughter-in-law with the clerk. Several had been suggested. All had been dismissed. Finally, the mother-in-law picked up a pair of dressy little lounging pants and told the clerk they would have to do.

“Okay, and what size would she need?” the clerk asked, politely.

“Well…” the lady responded. “That’s a good question. She needs a large, but she thinks she’s a small!”

It was no use trying not to laugh. In fact, I may have actually snorted! The clerk’s eyes met mine over a display. Our mouths were both covered by masks, but her eyes were dancing. She wanted to laugh, too!  I could tell she was also trying to figure out what to do with that sizing announcement, but the mother-in-law spared her with a second and final instruction. “Just wrap up a large. I’ll tell her I asked for a small and y’all must have given me a large by mistake. She’ll wear it anyway. No harm, no foul.”

I’m not so sure about that no harm, no foul assessment. I think the jury is still out!

In other news, I’ve got a story for you about my own questionable gift-giving escapade. Some of you will remember that I wrap the grands’ presents in a theme each year. That first year I created a quartet of Santas and Mrs. Clauses’ (there were only four of these marvelous grands at the time!) I can’t say I meant to repeat the madness every year, but once you start something, it’s hard to stop! And with that, I suppose I should clarify what I mean by themed presents.

I take their gifts and wrap them in brown paper. Then I take those boxes and transform them into a scene. Over the years, I’ve transformed those boxes into a herd of reindeers, a group of nutcrackers, and a busy Christmas village, to name a few!

Do you know the expression “Jump the Shark”? No? Well, allow me. For brevity, I’ll quote a search return: Jump the shark is a term to describe a moment when something that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline in quality and popularity. Origin of this phrase comes from a Happy Days episode where the Fonz jumped a shark on water skis. It was labeled the lowest point of the show, and the beginning of the end.

Friends, I believe I jumped the shark with this one. I set out to create a sweet little nativity. What it became can only be described as #2020.

Building the different characters was one thing. I was initially planning to go with kind of an abstract idea where none of them would have arms. Only, one of Carlisle the Angel’s gifts was soooo wid...