Christmas Visions

It seems to me that the Christmas season, more than any other, gives one a chance to develop ambitious anticipations. I worked hard to get the business of Christmas done early. But then an idea entered my mind that I just had to develop. We always act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. But last year the grandkids kinda fooled around with it. So I decided to make a video of the Nativity, with the kids in it. So early on I dressed and posed them. Then I put them into Nativity pictures I already had and wrote up a narration to go with it. I especially wanted to create my granddaughter Carmen as Mary. You may remember that we lost her to cancer in 2009. Her last Christmas with us she asked me if she could be Mary in our Nativity play. But I had already promised it to Jacqueline. Not knowing it would Carmen's last chance to be Mary, I told her she could play that role the next year. She was gone from us the following February. So I determined that, this time, she would be Mary. You can see one of my efforts in the picture of Mary at the right. So, with this is a promise kept, in a small way.

My vision with these Nativity pictures was to make it into a video/slideshow with music and narration that could be duplicated and given to each family. But it took longer than I anticipated to put it together (doesn't it always?!). So I made a slide show, played Christmas carols at random and had Layne and granddaughter Rayne narrate it live. I was so hoping that the grandkids would love seeing themselves and would get into the story. They DID get a kick out of finding themselves in the pictures, but didn't feel the spirit of the story as I'd hoped they would. It was not worth all the time I put into it. Maybe if I actually polish and finish it, it will be better and more effective, for next year.

Still, Christmas Eve and day went fairly well. We had our usual celebration with all our local kids. It was chaotic and great in general. I'm so grateful at this time for a family to celebrate with and one that I enjoy. Sometimes I lose track of how good life is. I feel surrounded by benevolence and comfort. It is a great time to be alive.

I was thinking, this Christmas, of how amazing the life of Christ was. He gave His whole mortality for the benefit of other people. There was no space for His own wants and needs. How miraculous that there is someone in the universe that is that benevolent and that He would direct His gifts to us. I'm grateful.

Just below is Lexy, Vincent and Jacqueline dressed in their Christmas Eve pajamas. Bottom picture is grandson Timothy playing a piece on the piano at our family talent night on Christmas.