COME THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS

Every December, for the past nineteen years, our family has anticipated the celebration of Jesus's birth by setting up our nativity scene in the center of a candle-ring graced with evergreen sprigs and lit by four candles; three of them purple, one pink. We light the first purple candle during supper on the first Sunday in Advent, followed by the second and third purple candles on the successive Sunday evenings. We light the pink candle the fourth Sunday as the Christ candle.

We also have a wall hanging we put up that pictures the background for the manger scene. Each night there is a figure to be put on the background, affixed there with Poster Tack. It begins with a small city of Bethlehem on the horizon followed by lambs, sheep, a cow, donkey, camels, shepherds, Wise Men, Mary, Joseph, a bright star, angels, and finally, the Baby Jesus. This Advent set came with a pamphlet that contains a scripture verse and prayer to be read for each figure.

We have been observing Advent this way since Ramsey's second Christmas and it is looked forward to every year. Except this year, Ramsey, who is going on twenty has complained that it is getting boring. We told him, "Tough. You loved this when you were growing up the same way your sisters and brother do. We look forward to continuing the tradition with our grandchildren." (We got an eyeroll on that one.) Funny thing is, Ramsey still wants to be the one to put up certain "favorite" pieces, ie., the star, the Gloria Angel, the shepherd boy, and, of course, the Baby in the manger. And, boy, if someone sticks one of the figures in the "wrong" spot he is quick to correct them. When we kid him about having the scene layout memorized from the picture on the front of the pamphlet he retorts grumpily, "Well, yeah, after all these years it's burned in my brain." That's a good thing.

And he's already staked his claim to putting up the final, crowning piece this year: the Baby Jesus.