I hadn't planned on it, but this weekend I bought a miniature poinsettia...marbled in red and white, barely 3 inches tall.
I tenderly packed it amidst a flat of pansies, brought it home and placed it gently into a fragile porcelain Christmas cup, setting it on my kitchen window ledge where I could admire it.
From the moment I spotted that tiny thing at the greenhouse, lost among its larger, bolder, flashier relatives...
I knew it had to come home with me...
For it was a kindred spirit with my longing spirit...
For a simpler, quieter Christmas...
A Christmas season with less exterior and more interior.
A Christmas season with Jesus.
Not frantic busyness.
You see, for years I turned our home into a Christmas wonderland...every surface covered with glitter and lights, nativities and snowy winter scenes.
I spent days clearing out and packing up my normal life to make room for this once-a-year-spectacle called Christmas.