Life by Grace Alone

Days before Christmas as soon as the light began to dim, our neighbor's yard was decked  with air filled creatures that  for many represented the heart of Christmas, Santa Claus on a motorcycle stood along side 2 other Santas grasping other modes of transportation. In the night air, colorful lights accentuated the bulgy figure of each Santa. During the light of day I was startled each time we drove by. Instead of imposing figures each one lay flat on the ground. These Santas represented no Christmas joy or mystery. They looked more like discarded Halloween costumes. Was it the second or third time I went by before I realized there was something far more important to observe? Without the distraction of lights high lighting jolly old St. Nick the cutouts of Mary, Joseph and Jesus became the center of the yard. They were what stood while the rest of the yard lay like haphazard dabs of color on the winter ground.  No matter what place Santa has in your Christmas remember ...

The year was 1971. Steve and I were focused on our our wedding day. We had rented our apartment. Steve had moved in and I was eager to join him. The apartment came with an odd assortment of attributes. It had a swimming pool, pink appliances and a walk in closet. The walls were mostly bare as we had only just begun to understand what our tastes were and how they might work together or collide. I'm certain what we had on the walls could have been displayed by any number of other couples. Over the years we went from an apartment in an old barn to our first purchased house to a home owned by the church to a house owned by my family to a hundred year old house on a Vermont hillside to a house in a development in a large older community in Va, As we moved we did so with one, two and then 3 and then 4 children. With each additional child the moves became more complex with more toys, clothes and personalities. Home decor took a back seat to budget constraints and attempts to enforce gre...