Saturday, December 5, 2009

Sunday Sentiments: The Nativities

I thought since this was such a sentimental time of year I would change Sunday Funnies to a kinder more gentle post.  (Plus nothing really funny happened this week, hopefully something will happen for next Sunday)

In the shadow of the Creche lies a newborn babe, swaddled in tightly wound clothes of the purest white.  A mother's angelic face looks down on her heavenly child as a strong supportive hand rests on her shoulder, it's owner letting her know that he will do all in his power to provide and protect.

Several years ago my mother-in-law started attending an event every December where a group of families would gather together and bring with them a nativity that they owned. 
There was always something new and different at each one of these wonderful evenings and my mother-in-law seemed to really enjoy attending this as a way to start off the holiday season.

A few years ago they stopped hosting this event and it has, like many traditions, gone by the wayside.  But my MIL seemed to have a new interest as she started shopping around the holiday season.  She started picking up nativities and started a collection of her very own.  Instead of going and seeing what new pieces someone else has discovered, she started picking up new and wonderful sets of her own each Christmas.

It has been so fun to watch as her collection has grown in size and number.  Her nativities are of all shapes and sizes, made of several different mediums such as wood, ceramic, porcelain, and glass.  They are beautiful and each one is unique.

I love to watch as the grandkids discover the new nativity that she has picked up.  Every time we visit and a new nativity has been added the grandkids stare and absorb all the details of the newest set, and then they have to look at all the other sets, and then they want to touch them and explore them in any way that they can.



I think that this has been a wonderful thing for me and my kids to see how much my MIL loves the setting of Christ's birth, and how she has placed it as the focal point of her Christmas.  If only all of us could let Christ be the most prolific part of our own holidays I think that all the hustle and bustle of the season would settle into a still and quiet night on which we could celebrate our Savior and all that He has done for us because He loves us.  I think that if we used that day for worshipping and a renewing of our promises to be faithful to Him, that the world would see peace and prosperity instead of war and recession.

But I also know that this is easier said than done.

Thank you for your inspiration and your example Grandma!


Sunday Funnies is a weekly theme here at Cake Crumbs. If you would like to play along just think back through your week and find the funniest thing that happened to you and jot it down. You can leave your story in the comments box if you would like. Or if you decide to do a post on your own site just mention it in your comment and I'll be sure to come check it out!

9 comments:

kayerj said...

Lovely Sentiments about your MIL and I like your take on the celebration of Christmas too.

Hootin Anni said...

Ohhhhhhh, Heidi....one excellent post. And I love the photo. So, so precious. How loving a post.

Janae S said...

Ah, what a lovely post. I love going to my mom's and seeing all the nativity sets. It always reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas.

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I have a small collection of nativity scenes as well. My goal is to get at least 5 really nice ones so that I can pass them on to my children when they have homes of their own.

Mimi said...

I agree with you, but also agree that it's easier said than done, we all get caught up in the frenetic activity in the lead-up to Christmas, and forget the real meaning of it.
Lovely post, Heidi

Nat said...

What a great post. I've also started a nativity collection. They help us all to focus more on Christ.

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

What a wonderful idea for your MIL and what a lovely thing to do. We are working hard to tell Jonathan about the true meaning of Christmas, while somehow trying to explain Santa to him because Santa is everywhere! Tonight we were watching some nativity cartoons on YouTube and now I think he thinks they are the same person because he said he wanted to watch "Jesus" and then he said "Yeah. Santa."

Oh crap. Our work is not finished yet!

Kelli @ writing the waves said...

I agree with you. It can be hard to focus on the true meaning of C-mas with all the hustle and bustle that surrounds it. I really liked Pres. Monson's talk tonight about that during the Christmas devotional. I just found a bunch of great stories and activities on lds.org in the December issue of the Friend that I'm going to try and do with the kids too. :)

P.S. I thought of your "Sunday Funnies" tonight and posted something on my blog.

Mimi said...

Heidi, thanks for your comment over at mine. I'll do a post soon on how I got into essential oils.
Of course I don't mind if you do a giveaway for your 100th post, we might start a tradition here!
One of your pictures would be a lovely giveaway?