"How are you preparing for Christmas?"

As I was walking along my regular route toward the internet, someone called me over to chat. After the compulsory pleasantries, he asked me “How are you preparing for Christmas?” Hmmm…I had no idea how I was supposed to respond to this question. I have been a little bitter about the fact that there have been relatively few signs of Christmas anywhere in all of Jalingo (I’ve seen 1 strand of lights…the only Christmas tree is a sticker one that my mom sent…no Christmas songs on the radio. Back in the US, I was the first person to complain about the excessive consumerism, but now that I’m at the opposite end of the spectrum I was really missing symbols season! In trying to gracefully dodge the question, I turned the question back to him to see what kind of response would be appropriate. He was reluctant to answer for fear of tainting my answer (completely warranted!), but finally answered with something to this effect.

“I’ve been praying that God would open my eyes to experience the birth of baby Jesus in a new way this year. I’ve also been reading and meditating on the scriptures that depict the birth of Christ.”

Yeah…don’t I feel shallow! All I could think about were the secular aspects of the season whereas I could have been using this time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas! I became determined to take my Christmas preparations into my own hands in my own way, which leads me to my Christmas cookies and cards extravaganza!