Advent Day 18–Christmas Stories

By Debby Giusti

Advent encompasses the four weeks leading up to Christmas and is a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child.  Each year, we invite him anew into our hearts and our homes, welcoming the tiny babe with gifts we present to the Christ we see in others as we celebrate his birth.  

 As Christians, we are filled with anticipation and expectation because we know that, just as long ago, a tiny child born in a stable and lying in a manger can and does transform our world today.  That’s Good News.  Mystical Nativity, Sandro Botticelli, 1500-1501. [PD-US]Like you, I love stories.  From the annunciation and visitation to the nativity and epiphany, I often imagine myself as one of the characters.  Angels and shepherds, innkeepers and kings, the rich lineup allows me to enter fully into the story and invariably what occurred over two thousand years ago gives insight to my life today. God reveals himself through his stories, and I come to know him more fully as I break open the Word and study his sacred scripture.
Each Christmas Eve, my family gathers around the tree and manger as my husband reads the Nativity Story from Luke’s gospel.   Then we process through the house, carrying the baby Jesus, and knock on our closed bedroom doors that symbolize the times we have closed our hearts to the Lord.  As we process, we sing Silent Night until, at last, we end up in front of the crèche and place the tiny baby in the manger.  There we join hands, offer thanks for the past year and pray for God’s blessings in the year ahead.  Adoration of the Shepherds, Mattias Stom, 1635-1640. [PD-US]That tradition is part of our family story, part of who we are and how we embrace Christ’s birth each year.  I know all of you have traditions that are part of your family story as well.
Just as with scripture, our own stories are important.  Our successes and failures, our struggles and joys reveal God’s mercy and love.  In sharing our stories we better understand how the past shapes the present and gives meaning to the future, and that understanding draws us closer together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
One of my special Christmas stories involves the birth of my second child.  Wanting to be in control of the situation, I had decided the baby would be born on or before my December 19 due date so we could be home from the hospital by December 25 to celebrate with my husband and toddler daughter.
Adoration of the Magi, Bartolome Esteban
Murrillo, 1655-1660. [PD-US]Of course, I wasn’t in charge – God was!  The first contraction hit at 8 A.M. on Christmas morn.  Throughout my labor and delivery, I focused on the Christ Child’s birth and have always felt humbled that my son, who we named Joseph, would share a birthday with the Lord.  God blessed me that Christmas with the gift of my baby.  He also allowed me to live out the story of the Christ Child’s birth in a very special way.
If you have time to spare from your holiday preparation, grab a cup of coffee, fill your plate with pumpkin bread, fruit cake and quiche and share your special Christmas story. Leave a comment and your email to be entered in a drawing for a copy of HER FORGOTTEN AMISH PAST. Remember you’ll also be entered in the Big Seekerville Gift that one lucky person will win.
May the blessing of the Christ Child fill you anew as you celebrate his birth!
Merry Christmas!Debby Giustiwww.DebbyGiusti.com



HER FORGOTTEN AMISH PAST
By Debby Giusti
She can’t remember who she’s running from.
Is she safe with the Amish?
Someone wants Becca Troyer dead, but who or why is a mystery to her. Seeking refuge at the home of Amish farmer Zeke Hochstetler is her only hope to stay one step ahead of the killer. With every clue she finds about her past leading to more confusion, Becca and Zeke must untangle the truth before her pursuer discovers where she’s been hiding.
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