How To Wait Expectantly

The morning after Thanksgiving, I stripped the hearth of pumpkins and gourds and packed all the fall decorations away. I then hauled five Rubbermaid containers marked “Christmas” upstairs from the basement and spent the rest of the day decorating. I draped garland around the bannister and along mantel, festooned the Christmas tree with delicate homemade ornaments from my kids’ preschool days, arranged the nativity scene on the coffee table and hung white twinkle lights on the picket fence.

I...