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Losing baby Jesus

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First Advent had come and gone, and I’d only put up a few of the Christmas decorations.

I had pulled all the boxes out of the crawl space, but time to unpack the annual treasures was lacking. Now guests were due to come over, so the job had to be completed.

Unfortunately, before I could arrange the decor, I had to tend to the overdue job of dusting and vacuuming.

So started a frantic day of Christmas decorating. The last step was to lay out the treasured handcrafted nativity set.

However, in the frenzied motions of vacuuming, I must have knocked away baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloth. He had rolled completely out of sight. Even after moving all the furniture and backtracking over where he first lay, no success rewarded my search.

I knew the lesson right away.

I struggle each year to make Christmas something more than a season with more things to do than time to do them in. I try to leave out things that aren’t necessary. (For me, that’s baking and sending cards.)

God is so gracious; he continues to love me through my meaningless busyness. I feel his love everyday as he shows up in the smallest details, reminding me to keep my eyes focused on what is important.

I know baby Jesus will show up: I know he’s somewhere in this house.

For now, I’ll rest in the knowledge that someone will find him – eventually.

I might post a reward for my family members to join the search.

Or perhaps my two-year-old granddaughter will find him next time she’s over. She will find him without even looking; he’ll be somewhere down at her level.

[Rose Brechin is a member of Ross Road Community Church, Abbotsford, B.C. She and her husband live on a hobby farm with their family.

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