Advent is a rich time in our faith – a time of waiting in anticipation for Jesus’ birth and the beginning of our Holy Family.
Growing up, my family made the Advent season an extra special event. As we lit our advent wreath, I would gaze at the beautiful Guatemalan Nativity scene nestled in the center. The intricate clay carvings mesmerized me and instilled a love of the Holy Family in my heart at a young age. While this Nativity was too delicate for a young gal who LOVED playing with any kind of dolls or characters, there were PLENTY of other Nativity sets scattered around the house. My favorites included Charlie Brown Nativities, a wooden set that was infant-friendly, and plastic indestructible sets that had seen their fair share of play over the years. We even had (and continue to have) a large Nativity set that is proudly displayed in my parent’s front yard, complete with a Jesus that we would wait to light up until Christmas. The performer in me would be awestruck at the Nativity reenactments at school. I would dream of the day when I’d be a part of the Holy Family and play Mary holding Baby Jesus. Regrettably, this dream never came true, as I was often selected to be the narrator in the Nativity reenactments.
At school, we would have Christmas fairs where kids could do their own Christmas shopping for the family. I always wanted to get a Nativity set and would find a family member that may like it. When I was in 2nd grade, I spent almost all of my Christmas fair money ($12 dollars out of my $20 budget) on a 3-piece wooden Nativity featuring Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. They had robes painted deep blues and purples; it was the most beautiful thing at the fair to me. I gave it to my grandmother, Moeke, who lives in Colorado working as an artist and dollmaker. I knew she would love the colors as I did and totally understand how special this representation of the Holy Family was.
The years passed. At 29, I was newly married, and my husband and I were celebrating our first Christmas together. We bought our first Advent wreath together, along with candles that were comically too fat to fit into the wreath slots. We were all set to celebrate, but something was missing: we did not have a single Nativity. Our wreath looked so empty to me, not having the Holy Family in the center of the wreath. I found the task of choosing a Nativity daunting and a little overwhelming. So I gave up, determined to be more on top of it next year.
A package arrived at our studio apartment a few days before Christmas. Moeke had sent some packages filled with Christmas cookies and such and an extra special something at the bottom. Wrapped in delicate tissue paper were a wooden Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, painted in deep blues and purples. After all of these years, she had kept that Nativity of the Holy Family that I had specially picked for her. She had a note explaining how she felt it was time for this Nativity to nestle into my new family. Now, my family’s Advent wreath has the Holy Family in its center – more delicate and priceless than any other Nativity I have beheld.
This Advent season, my husband and I are expecting our first child. As we navigate this special time, I have never had a deeper appreciation for the Holy Family: the anticipation and excitement they must have felt, along with the little worries here and there. They must have delighted in every kick and grown stronger together in times of food cravings and morning sickness. While they didn’t have an app to inform them of Jesus’ equivalent “baby-to-fruit size” each week, they must have prayed nightly over their precious child, as my husband and I do. We pray for her health and safety, for her to be strong and kind, and mostly we pray that we are blessed with the ability to really know her and that she feels known and loved by us. We pray especially that she feels known and loved by God. I can’t wait to celebrate this Christmas, but I am even more excited for next Christmas when my daughter can gaze upon our wreath and her first Nativity. I hope she sees the Holy Family in the center of our wreath as an example of pure love and maybe finds equal admiration in the Holy Family painted in deep blues and purples. And who knows, maybe one day she can play Mary in a Nativity reenactment, although if she is anything like her performer parents, she will be a narrator, and we will be so proud just the same.
I hope you and your family have an Advent season filled with delightful anticipation and memories that carry on for decades to come. I encourage you to take a moment the next time you see a Nativity and remember the joy and love from the experience Mary, Joseph, and Jesus shared on that first Christmas and marvel at it.
– Katie Gange