With Christmas Day just around the corner, I find myself borrowing a tactic from Jolly Old Saint Nick.  In my hurried attempts to complete all that the season beckons, I’ve taken his lead and made a list of my own.  In addition, I’ve checked it at least twice.  It shows that I’ve come up more than a little bit short.  Apparently, I am not quite ready to jump into my version of a sleigh in order to deliver an array of dazzling gifts to those I know.  The problem is that the perfect presents seem harder to come by this year.  That priceless CD is already owned and the book which would complete that favorite collection is now out of print.  So I am still on a quest for various trinkets which will fill the space under my family’s Christmas tree this year.  But remembering a little friend’s visit two years previous refocuses my search this advent season....

It was a cool December day when Lily, my four-year-old friend, surprised me with an unexpected knock at the door.  Though busy putting the finishing touches on my holiday decorations, I was glad for her company.  But I was worried that my toy-less home would not hold her interest for very long.  Come to find out, I was mistaken.  It wasn’t long before Lily disappeared, wandering in and out of each ordinary room talking of whimsical tales involving princesses and paupers.  Her faint murmuring in the background of my own activities assured me that all was well.  She returned to my side some time later, anxious to give me a report of her adventures.  Her blue eyes widened as she gleefully described finding nine baby Jesus’ on her hunt.  I chuckled to myself, remembering my collection of nativity scenes which were scattered throughout the house.  Amazingly, Lily had found them all.  What is more profound--and the memory that has stayed with me-- is that in her search, she had discovered the central figure within the Christmas Story.  Having found Him, she came away rejoicing, eager to share Him with all who had ears to hear. 

My hunch is that Lily found something unexpected while touring my home that Christmas.  Instead of a fairy-tale prince, she found a king concealed as a baby lying in a manger.  I’m not sure if the doting wise-men gave it away, but somehow she knew that she had stumbled upon someone of great importance.  On the very first Christmas, a group of ordinary shepherds received an unexpected lead of their own concerning the whereabouts of that same king.  While minding their own business, the shepherds encountered an army of angels who descended in order to proclaim the good news about the gift of a Savior.  He would be wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.  The shepherds followed the tip, finding exactly what they had been told.  And upon finding him, they responded much like Lily.  Unable to contain themselves, they came away rejoicing, praising God and telling all who had ears to hear.

This Christmas season, I hope to find that perfect present for those on my list.  But my visit from Lily confirms my suspicion that finding the ultimate gift lies somewhere beyond the frenzied activity of crowds and department stores.  At each and every turn of my search this advent season, I want to hear and see the long-hoped-for gift which was delivered two-thousand years ago.  It’s unlikely that my encounters will be exactly like those of the shepherds or my friend, Lily.  But I do hope that my encounters are the same in this regard-- As I find Jesus in the most ordinary, unexpected places, I want to come away full of praise, thanking God and proclaiming his name to all who have ears to hear.