Christmas Lights

We put up Christmas lights, the whole family. This is the first year we have all done it. Usually I am the lone decorator with my occasional cheer section Joseph. It was so much more fun to have everyone with me, and easier too. The little people pretended to help, Joseph did help, and well my husband's incredible height and long arms are really just amazing during times like this.

Joseph asked my why we put up lights. "Is it to remind us of the Christmas star?"He asked. I told him it is because when we celebrate Christ's birth, the world that was dark, and lost, is now bright, filled with hope, wonder, sparkle and joy. The simplest little things we can do in a material way to brighten our home, and neighborhood, to show our joy, our gratitude and our thankfulness, like the putting up of lights, are an outward sign of the inward joy, anticipation, and gratitude we feel embracing His birth each year. That's not why everyone in our neighborhood puts up lights, but that's why we do. I now wish I had an outdoor nativity scene too. Well I am just marveling at how helpful the "why" questions are. Joseph has me pondering a lot now and I love him for it. Everything must have purpose, to be able to pass it on as something worthy of doing. Somehow lights by their beauty, are easy, they speak for themselves. When creation looks cold and desolate, the warmth of the lights in our neighborhood and yard are such a nurturing comfort.