Facing The Stable
I am a collector. I come by it naturally. I was born into it. My grandpa collected wood, my grandma collected yarn and together they collected Hummels. I have an uncle that collected every size cast iron skillet. At one time he had them hanging from his kitchen ceiling. You could play the best songs banging on those skillets with a couple of wooden spoons.
My collecting bug started in elementary school with stickers. I switched to key chains in junior high, and in high school, my mom started buying Precious Moments for me. My collections have waxed and waned over the years from everything to chickens and amish things to sunflowers and rubber stamps. But one of my favorite collections is my Christmas nativities.
I have porcelain sets and wooden sets. Plastic sets and stuffed sets. I have a nativity that is all mice and one that is all teddy bears. As a young mother I was told I should always have a nativity set that my children could touch and play with. That way they could act out the Christmas story during playtime. So we are the proud owners of a Fisher Price Little People nativity and also a Veggie Tales nativity, complete with Larry and Jerry Gourd dressed as a cow. These are the sets that Trent gets to set up for display.
After our Christmas decorating frenzy was over, I went and checked the progress of my little helper. When I set up a nativity, I face all the figures "outward", so you can see their faces. Making sure the shepherd is standing with the sheep and the Magi with the camel. When I saw Trent's artistic display, everyone (including the animals!) was standing in a circle, facing "backward". I asked him why he had set it up like that. "It's because they are all looking at Jesus". Duh Mom! Isn't that what they all came to the stable to do? Look at Jesus?! To worship the King of Kings?!
So often at we get wrapped up in making everything look good for Christmas. Fancy packages and decked out trees. Awe-inspiring light displays that are the envy of the neighborhood. Perfect matching outfits on color coordinated Christmas cards. Everything looks really good. Yet sometimes we forget where we are supposed to be looking. We shouldn't be facing "outward", looking to the world for our satisfaction. We should be "backward" facing the stable, looking at Jesus.
This reminds me of an old song:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangley dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
I pray during this last week of Advent, that the things of earth, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, will grow dim. And the light of our Savior's birth will fill your hearts and homes. Hopefully you don't need a six year old to remind you to face the stable and turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Have a blessed week!
Krystal
P.S. Just ran across this on FB and had to add it: Whose Birthday Is It Really?.
My collecting bug started in elementary school with stickers. I switched to key chains in junior high, and in high school, my mom started buying Precious Moments for me. My collections have waxed and waned over the years from everything to chickens and amish things to sunflowers and rubber stamps. But one of my favorite collections is my Christmas nativities.
I have porcelain sets and wooden sets. Plastic sets and stuffed sets. I have a nativity that is all mice and one that is all teddy bears. As a young mother I was told I should always have a nativity set that my children could touch and play with. That way they could act out the Christmas story during playtime. So we are the proud owners of a Fisher Price Little People nativity and also a Veggie Tales nativity, complete with Larry and Jerry Gourd dressed as a cow. These are the sets that Trent gets to set up for display.
So often at we get wrapped up in making everything look good for Christmas. Fancy packages and decked out trees. Awe-inspiring light displays that are the envy of the neighborhood. Perfect matching outfits on color coordinated Christmas cards. Everything looks really good. Yet sometimes we forget where we are supposed to be looking. We shouldn't be facing "outward", looking to the world for our satisfaction. We should be "backward" facing the stable, looking at Jesus.
This reminds me of an old song:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangley dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
I pray during this last week of Advent, that the things of earth, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, will grow dim. And the light of our Savior's birth will fill your hearts and homes. Hopefully you don't need a six year old to remind you to face the stable and turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Have a blessed week!
Krystal
P.S. Just ran across this on FB and had to add it: Whose Birthday Is It Really?.
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