Christmas past...

As much of a fuss as I make about Christmas presents (hey, gifts are my Love Language, people), I am always overwhelmed at Christmas at the entirety of the whole thing. Baby, shepherd, angels, wise men, all that stuff, wow. And it's not just a story, it's everything. I mean, it's everything to us! If there hadn't been Christmas, Easter would have been pointless. And if there hadn't been Easter, Christmas would have been useless. And without either of those, life would have no meaning whatsoever. That is a huge circle to wrap our minds around.

So anyway, I like to collect Nativity scenes to remind me about this WHOLE THING that is too big for me to understand. (I admit freely to collecting Advent calendars as well because every little box or door or envelope is like another little present every day in December. Oh, the treasures that await me... See? I need the Nativity scenes around to keep me grounded.) But this is my oldest and most favorite one. (Except for my mostest favorite one that is still at Mom and Dad's house. But that doesn't count.) This one has only been in my house for a few years- it used to be in Grandma Miller's dresser drawer. I don't know how old it is, but for as long as I can remember I would pull this out of the drawer and play with it when I was over at Grandma's. The Wise Men used to defeat the GI Joe's in an epic battle every week I was there. (But I always set it up in the "proper" Nativity sequence when I was done playing, except minus the baby Jesus... he's been MIA from the first time I pulled it out of the drawer. You have to look close to see it's really the angel in there.)

This is so tiny that it fits on a 3X5 card. My first Christmas cross stitch is behind it. This little spot on our fireplace has some great memories!