"It came upon a Midnight Clear"~

When I was a little girl I use to love to set up our nativity as we were decorating for Christmas. I wasn't always the one that got to do that, but when I was, I remember taking each tiny piece and unwrapping it so carefully from the wadded up paper towel that protected it from the bumps and falls that might have happened during the previous 11 months. I placed each piece in a special place and tried to make it look like a picture from a story book. I longed to have one of my own nativity sets, one that I could display in my bedroom upon my dresser or on my floor. I loved looking at the figures and envisioning the Christmas Story in my mind. When I grew up and started purchasing Christmas decorations of my own, a Nativity was the first thing on my list. Our first Nativity was just a simple $6.00 set from Kmart. It was cute and I loved it, especially because it was my own. Although it was inexpensive and simple, I treasured it like it was a priced possession and loved having it set up and displayed in my home. I love nativity's. I love that they are all so different but tell the same story, the story of Christmas. Over the years I have collected them and I still get excited to set them all out and display them each year, and every year I hate to bundle them back up into their boxes at the end of the season. One of the first nativity's that I ever bought, I have passed down to my oldest daughter. It holds special memories and alot of sentimental value to us. I am so thrilled when I get to go to her house and see how she uses it as a focus in her Christmas decorating too. There is such a neat feeling that a Nativity brings to Christmas decor that no other decoration can bring. I got a wonderful, sweet, surprise when Deron went Christmas shopping yesterday. He came home with a gorgeous Nativity that he had purchased at the Quilted Bear. Each figure stands around 18" high (the top picture of this post). The detail work on each figure is so exact and perfect. It was such a sweet, thoughtful Christmas surprise. I love it!!!!....(NOW to find where to put it) Christmas is my favorite time of year. There is a feeling in the air that just permeates the soul. If we could just take that feeling and have it run through our veins all year long, what a happier place the world would be.

"Until one feels the spirit of Christmas, there is no Christmas. All else is outward display-so much tinsel and decorations. For it isn't the holly, it isn't the snow. It isn't the tree not the firelight's glow. It's the warmth that comes to the hearts of men when the Christmas spirit returns again." -- Anonymous