A little bit of our first Christmas

Just 6 days. Approximately 144 hours. It's the nightly advent readings that get me truly excited. We light our advent candles, now burning lower and lower, and read from the book Jotham's Journey, a remarkable children's fiction book that leads up to the birth of Christ (which incidently should probably be rated PG-13, due to the cruelty of the world Jesus was born into). We're getting excited. And it's not just all the festivities and parties. It's the knowledge that our Savior, God with skin on, was sent in a small package. Never mind that he arrived, 2000 years ago, and changed history. We're back in the moments and days and months before Mary went through childbirth. We're rejoicing with Elizabeth, whose babe kicked up a storm in the presence of the unborn Christchild. We're marveling at Joseph's calling, and Mary's "yes." We're full of hope and anticipating the joy.

And this is a little bit of our Christmas:

Our table

Our snow

Our half-Christmas tree (thank you jcpenney.com, it fits flat against the wall!)

Our cranberries, now strung up for all to see

And our Advent wreath

We're keeping it simple, and trying to keep it real. What am I looking forward to the most? I love that my mom will be traveling to spend Christmas with us. But I'm especially happy that our church has a simple, beautiful Christmas Eve service planned. A time to worship. A time to sing for joy. A time to celebrate the rescue that meets our deepest need. I'd like to bottle this hope and keep it shining all year through.