Amy Scott's Thoughts

Every November, Jeremy and I make a trek down to Portland to start our Christmas shopping. We love the stores and the no sales tax really stretches our dollar. This year we braved the first snow of the year. We look forward to this trip every year. Even though it was hard to leave the beauty of our winter wonderland, we set out on our mission. Each year I go into our shopping day super focused. It’s not about me… it’s about getting gifts for others. I truly enjoy shopping for others and love gift giving. So for me I go into the day with a singular focus.

Jeremy on the other hand… He is not able to compartmentalize. Our first stop was at Target where we pretty much got everything for ourselves. Jeremy picked up the makings of green bean casserole because he realized he was a little short on his stash and he promised to bring that for Thanksgiving. We got gift wrap and bows. I bought some candy cane kisses for my advent calendar. While we were in the toy section, I was busy comparing prices and getting ideas for my nephew’s gift when I noticed something tucked on the bottom shelf of the cart. The joy I experience when I saw this item was pretty intense! It was a Fisher-Price Little People Nativity Set.

Let me explain why this is so important. Every since Jeremy and I got married, I’ve been looking for the perfect nativity set for our Christmas collection. Everything seemed too ornate. I’m not really a frilly person, so I knew that whatever I settle on would be simple. A year ago I discovered that there was a Little People Nativity Set. I instantly wanted it. I loved Little People as a kid and once they changed them to make them chubbier (aka less easy to choke on), I think they got cuter. Jeremy thought I was kidding and shot me down when I said I wanted it. At this point, I would like to say this is the man who has a Veggie Tales Nativity Set in his office every year that sings… so yeah, not too different from my Little People set. After a year of talking about it, I told him this year when we saw it we would buy it. Jeremy found it first in the store and slipped it into the cart to surprise me.

When I got home I couldn’t keep it in the box, so I set up the nativity set on the tray we purchased for it. Once it was set up, I tucked safely away in my Christmas closet and it’s waiting until after Thanksgiving to come out. I’m so happy to finally have a nativity set in our home. I think it’s an important feature of Christmas decorating. It’s not all about Christmas Trees and stockings. The true purpose is to celebrate the life that came to earth to live and die for my sins. Death couldn’t hold him down! My Jesus is alive! Amen! Okay, preacher moment! I know that this depiction of the nativity isn’t accurate. These chubby little white children probably don’t resemble that night much at all. I get that. However, it’s a visual reminder of what we celebrate and I am happy camper to have my own nativity set. It’s unique and a little odd, just like me! I like that!

Side note: We did actually get to our purpose and tackled most of our Christmas list. Like I said, this trip was not about us. It just had some nice bonus items that came home with us.