Before Nora was born I had this great idea to make a story book for her. I bought this darling little stuffed bunny named Beatrice and I situated the bunny in several different scenes with people this new baby we were anticipating would grow up knowing and loving, and the premise of the story book was Beatrice was looking for the person who would love her and play with her. I took photos of Beatrice at the fair, at Starbucks, getting a perm from Aunt Abbie at the salon, Grandma Cindy sewing her a new outfit, Uncle Sam eating cereal and not quite awake at breakfast, with Nora’s cousin, Lily, in the waiting room at St. Joe’s hospital while Nora was being born, and ending with Beatrice snuggling in next to Nora the night she came home from the hospital….it was a really cute and fun idea, and was a great way to while away the time waiting for Nora’s birth.
I had 2 books printed, one for Nora, and one for Grandpa and I to have at our house, which I promptly LOST when I took it to Pullman to show my parents the weekend my brother got married. I must have left it in the hotel room, and even after several phone calls, craig’s list searches, and frantic praying, my copy never showed up. Someday I’ll re-order that book, but in the meantime, this Christmas I finally felt inspired to start Nora’s next picture book, (can I just say right here, for the record, and so her parents don’t expect this book to appear on Christmas Day, that I did not actually finish this book?) and the story was going to be A mouse and a pig searching for Christmas. I don’t want to give away the whole book, but the ending was going to be this little mouse and pig finding Jesus in the manger after seeing all the other sights and sounds of Christmas and not finding the real thing.
I’d been looking for the perfect nativity to photograph the last set of pictures and finally found, right under my nose last week a beautiful nativity at the hospital. I work near the hospital and often go to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee, to meet a friend for lunch, or just to get out of my office on a blustery day, but I hadn’t seen this nativity until last Friday! So, early this week I got to work early and went to take pictures of this nativity and realized that Mary and Joseph were there, camels, sheep, donkeys, the wise men, and the shepherds, even the angel, but no baby Jesus. I was frustrated by this, but shot my photos anyway, thinking that maybe someone had pulled a practical joke and the next day I could return and snap the pictures I needed of baby Jesus. However, the next day he still wasn’t there.
So….I did what came easiest for me….at Christmas, working full-time, feeling grinchy, and bah-humbuggy….I decided to forget it, give up, quit, it’s a stupid idea anyway, Nora’s only 16 months, she’ll never know a thing about it, and my days of writing a story book for my granddaughter are over….blah blah blah…
Today, blustery as it was, my walking partner and I decided to stay inside and met in the cafeteria at lunch time. As I passed the nativity I noticed something new. Not baby Jesus, no, but a framed printed statement next to the manger. It was an “explanation” of sorts from the Chaplains of St. Joseph Hospital telling why they had DECIDED not to place baby Jesus in the manger yet.
I didn’t have my camera, or I’d have taken a picture (of course) of this statement, so moved was I.
In a nutshell, it said that at St. Joe’s they do a lot of waiting; waiting for the doctor, waiting for test results, waiting for pain meds, waiting for pain meds to take effect, waiting to leave..and in the midst of all of our waiting God is there. There to meet us, to minister to us, to be with us. And so, as mankind waited for a Savior so many years ago, as a “meditation” they have chosen to ‘wait’ to place baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas morning this year. At the end of the statement was a question, “what are YOU waiting for?”
I was moved to tears as I read this little statement that the chaplains of St. Joseph Hospital wrote to explain why their nativity had no baby Jesus.
Yet.
Nora, your Christmas Story Book will have to ‘wait’ until next year.
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