Whispers of Christmas

Oh, how I love the whispers of Christmas!  Probably my favorites are the ones my son thinks are so quiet as he whisper-hollars into my ear about what he's getting his Daddy for Christmas.  Those whisper-hollars are getting more quiet each year, though.  I figure by the time he's 11 or 12, I won't have to quickly pull him into another room to keep his Daddy from hearing the secrets.

I'm aware of some conspiring occurring between father and son as well.  I can't help but be delightfully curious!

Then there are the late-night whisperings as Kevin and I pour over Little Mister's lengthy (and amusingly-spelled) Christmas list and try to balance fun and usefulness, all along keeping our budget in mind! :)  I'm not sure how long after midnight the two of us were doing some online shopping the other night, just hours shy of the deadline for before-Christmas delivery.  It's so exciting to have those decisions made and to anticipate Little Mister's reaction to them!

I was thinking about Mary, the mom of Jesus.  She loved and followed God, but she was an ordinary girl.  She lived in a time when there was great shame and stigma attached to being a pregnant unmarried girl.  She hadn't even done anything wrong, but there she was in a situation where most people probably didn't believe in her innocence.  Think of the whispers Mary experienced behind her back.  Some were surely real, maybe others she imagined.  But they were there, and they weren't likely fun, kindhearted whispers.

Yes, Mary was ordinary.  But she was remarkable, too.  She was remarkable because she wasn't trying to be remarkable.  She was going along, living her life in obedience and with a willingness to be used as God chose.  God chose a humble servant to do a really big thing.

Anyway, back to whispering . . .

My favorite Little House episode is Christmas at Plum Creek.  I will never tire of it, and probably never cease to sniffle at the ending.  Here is a minisode version, where you can catch the whole episode in less than 10 minutes!  It's so worth it.  Absolutely precious moments . . .