Two years ago this month, I had a milestone birthday. My friend, Zandra, helped me celebrate by giving me a mistletoe headband. I wasn’t sure where I would wear it, but it was cute and I was prepared if the right occasion came along. Putting up the Christmas decorations in 2012, I tucked my new headband away……somewhere.

To be honest, I didn’t think about my hair ornament that new year. Christmas 2013, Zandra called and asked if she could use her present. She was going to a party where it would be the perfect accessory and there was not another one to be found in town. I went looking. I was giving it my best shot as I dug through boxes and ransacked shelves. With my best efforts to find this item, I was experiencing a bigger problem. The past year had been hard and I was not exactly “with it” in mind, body or spirit. My usual Christmas pace, checking off parties where we were hosting or attending, shopping, baking, and Christmas card signing were not happening.  I finally called Zandra back and said she might want to make a trip to the woods to find some fresh mistletoe.

This Christmas 2014, as I got my decorations together, a “miracle” occurred. The mistletoe headband was found on a shelf, of course under a few treasures, but in full view. It was so easy to find and I wasn’t even trying this time. Even though there is no mention of a mistletoe tiara in the Bible, this headband has a lot to do with what I am learning about Christmas.

The gospel of Luke tells the Christmas story. Two main characters have been especially meaningful to me. First, the shepherds. In Luke 2:14, they hurried off to find Mary and Joseph. Now, I’m glad they hurried, because their haste brought them to the manager to see what they had heard from the Angels. They helped pass this story on to me and the whole world. The second character is Mary. Knowing what she was thinking and feeling is beyond our limited minds. In Luke 2:19, it states, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”. Two different actions, but both are important to a bigger story.

I can easily relate to the shepherds who hurried off. My Christmas  in the past has seemed hurried and frantic at times. I’ve heard in many places this story of Luke told, sung and shared, by people I loved. Inside, in my heart, mind and spirit, however, I was often hurried. Sadly, I was one who looked forward to January 1st when my world slowed down.

Last year, the pendulum was swinging a different way. Trying to find a mistletoe headband was a small microcosm of my life. I was going through the motions, but was immobilized in my heart and mind. I was not hurried, but my thoughts were scattered. Yes, I was pondering life but my focus kept flying off center.

Mary was not hurried and she was not standing still. She was treasuring and pondering a bigger story. This year I want to treasure what God has done and will continue to do through my life’s story.

This coming week I will celebrate another birthday. It has been two years since I received the mistletoe tiara. I’m not sure how many more “2 years” I will get. I don’t want to walk around in a stupor as I did last Christmas or be as hurried as I often was in the past. I want to be engaged and aware. I want to learn a lesson from Mary.

I’m not sure if I will use the headband this year or someone will call wanting it for an upcoming party. It is a reminder to me of thinking and living differently this Christmas season. Living with an expectancy, pondering and treasuring all that God is and wants to do in me is a perspective that I want not only for this season, but for each and every day.