An Advent Lesson

Ah, the holiday season is upon me. This week alone we've done my brother's birthday party, a make up gymnastics class, Penance Service and mass tonight in honor of Mary. We haven't been home at all.

In the midst of this, I was so very proud of myself for dragging all the decorations down from the attic and sticking to our tradition of decorating our tree on the first Sunday of Advent. I did a ton of decorating Saturday and Sunday and bursts throughout the week but I saved the Nativity for last because I wanted Mackenzie to help me.

I have been collecting Fontanini Nativity pieces since college and, not to give away how long ago that was, I have quite an impressive collection. It takes an hour or two to open all the boxes and find a place for everything.

Mackenzie loves to help and it's always one of my favorite holiday memories with her. We talk about each character as we pull them out of the box and weave the Christmas story into each person's placement.

This afternoon, while the boys were napping, the two of us sat on the kitchen floor going through this whole procedure. As she began opening she asked, "Am I going to put them out too?"

"Sure," I said, "I think you're old enough to do that this year."

To my surprise she hesitated. "I don't want to Mama. I like they way you do them better."

"Okay," I responded.

I noticed that the more I did, the more involved she became. So much so that when I decided to move the donkey, she protested but then agreed with my decision. The more we worked though, the more opinionated she became.

"Mom, that one does NOT look good there." "I think he belongs here because..."

I finally relinquished and let her do it. "Go ahead," I encouraged, "make it beautiful."

When she finished I noticed something. When I put the figures out, I try to face everyone so that you can see a little of their faces. I think they are beautiful and enjoy looking at them. However, when Mackenzie finished, every person had his or her back to me. Instead they were facing the manger.

It was an excellent Advent reminder for me. In her own subtle way, she showed me that preparing for Christmas is not about putting your best face forward. It's about turning your face to Christ.

You know, every time I pass that scene now I pause for a minute and face the manger. It's not about all the stuff. It's about the King.