This is a Guest Post From My Wife… read on:

On Christmas, we watched The Nativity Story. Have you seen this movie? It was our first time watching it. It is certainly going to become a new Christmas tradition. Yes, there were some parts of it that we really probably pretty inaccurate (oh, hello wiseman showing up right after Jesus is born!) but the story itself was pretty great to see on Christmas day.

This year was a bit different for me. For the first time, I really thought about Mary’s experience. I’m not sure why but I’ve just never really focused on Mary in this story. It was always still about Jesus for me. But really, if it hadn’t been for Mary’s faith and Joseph’s patience and trust, we could be celebrating a very different Christmas story. The Nativity Story really put it into perspective for me. First, she’s tiny. The girl was like 15. That’s insane. I realize that things were done younger in those days…but come on. I’m ten years older than her and not at all ready to become a mother. Here she is, a teenager, and she not only has to become a mother but she has to become the mother to the Savior of the entire world. Oh yeah, and she has to convince her fiancé that she was still a virgin. No big deal.

Watching the movie also made me empathize with her on a purely physical basis. There I was, sitting on my couch, uncomfortable as all get out. I have certainly hit the “I can never get comfortable” phase of the pregnancy. I am rotund, people. It hurts to sit. It hurts to stand. It hurts to lie down. I am just UNCOMFORTABLE. And as I am sitting there shifting my weight, trying to get comfortable on my nice plush couch, I see Mary getting up on a flippin’ donkey about to ride on that little guy for 100 miles to Bethlehem. Seriously? I can’t get comfortable on my couch…and this girl is fixing to take a bumpy camel ride for days and days just to be counted in some census. That, my friends, is crazy talk. But she did it. Because she is so good and faithful—not just to God but to her wonderful, trusting husband.

Okay…I have a confession to make. You see, I had this grandiose vision of blogging about how different my perspective is after experiencing the Christmas season carrying my own sweet little boy. I thought I’d have some poignant words that would make you guys say, “oh yeah.” But I am realizing I don’t. I think that my experience this season was really too personal to put into words. I just can’t seem to think of the right way to describe any of what I felt as I read the familiar story and watched the Nativity Story and listened to the sermons…so I guess I’ll just keep it to myself. I don’t think I could find a way to adequately share it anyway. But I do have to say that I am grateful for the experience I had and so grateful for the insight I gained into this wonderful woman’s experience. Elizabeth was right when she said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” Mary was so good and so blessed. She was such a strong woman and I can only pray to have a fraction of her faith. Too bad it took me getting knocked up to realize it. But…you know what they say: God works in mysterious ways.

This is a classy Christmas tree:

This is our tree… It’s not classy, but it’s pure family…

Honestly, I don’t think that we have any “real” ornaments. That’s not true. We do have a few. We have a few “first Christmas” ornaments from when we got married. But for the most part, our Christmas tree consists of lots and lots of ornaments that Stunning and I made when we were young. I’m talking really young. I’m talking our hands were this big young:

That hand is about 3 inches, just FYI.

I’m talking, I thought this was high quality artwork young (if only you could see her face better…giant eyes…huge nose, big mouth).

This is an “ornament” Stunning made when she was a little one. It’s a manger scene. That yellow figure is Jesus. There’s a little lamb at his feet. Apparently Joseph and Mary are identical except Joseph has a beard (or is vomiting. I can’t tell which)

What Christmas tree would be complete without an ice cream cone ornament? And yes, that base is a real ice cream cone. How has that survived all these years?

I’ve got a couple St. Louis Cardinals players just hanging out on the good old tree. Stunning hates them and thinks they are tacky. Then I reminds her of two things: 1) Our entire tree is tacky, and 2) You have these all over the tree:

Barbie ornaments. Her grandma would give me a Barbie Christmas ornament for every holiday, birthday, etc. Her Grandma was a shopper…one of those ladies who had gifts ready for people years before they were to be given. She died after Stunning and I had been dating for a year or so. The Christmas before we got married, this ornament was under the tree for my wife with a note (in her Grandma’s handwriting) that said: “To “Stunning” when she gets married”

Creepy to get a gift from your Grandma from beyond the grave but neat that the family kept it for her and gave it to her like her Grandma would have wanted.

I think 20 Barbies on the tree is overdoing it, so I only allow her to choose her 5 favorites.

So there ya have it. Our random tree.

It makes me wonder what kind of tree you guys have? On second thought, if yours is filled with chainsaw and knife ornaments, keep it to yourself…

Christmas for most is a pretty happy time of the year. However, you wouldn’t know it from most Christmas Songs. Merry Christmas All!

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

A lovely story about a young reindeer that is physically handicapped or just plain ugly reindeer. His friends? He has none. Everyone makes constant fun of him for his red nose and his life must be absolutely terrible. Then, the only reason people come to like him? It’s not for his personality or who he is… it’s because he did something no one else can do. (Any by the way, as a former television meteorologist, it’s always going to be foggy somewhere on Christmas Eve… every year… guaranteed.)

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

A heart warming tale of a young man coming home for Christmas. He’s very excited about it and can’t stop… singing…. about it. Then the song ends with, “Only in my dreams.” Ouch. That’s terrible.

Frosty the Snowman

It’s awesome when the old silk hat they found made him come to life one day. He ran around, they thumped a lot, then they got in trouble with the law… then as the other kids are getting arrested most likely, Frosty melts away. Not only are the kids in trouble, but the song ends with Frosty dying.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause

Perhaps the worst song of them all. This kid's Mom is cheating on her husband with some guy dressed at Santa. Nothing like getting Adultery for Christmas!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year. There will also be a lot of things, like parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow. There’ll be scary ghost stories……. wait… what? Scary ghost stories? Are you kidding me? Was the singer having a halloween flashback? My family has never told a ghost story at Christmas time. Clearly, there’s some issues the person has and they need to work through them with a counselor.

Last Christmas

Leave it up to the 1980s to create a song that sounds cheerful, but is actually about a woman ripping out a a guy’s heart and being with another guy. It was really nice for the guy last year to give her his heart, but who would’ve expected that the VERY NEXT DAY she would give it away? This year though, he seems to have learned his lesson and will give it to someone special. Seriously though, the guy needs some help… he clearly sees long-term relationships with every girl he dates.

Blue Christmas

Here’s a song that is overtly depressing… in its name and the fact the guy will have a blue Christmas without you.

The Christmas Shoes

This is the number one most depressing song at Christmas and, honestly, the dumbest song too. It’s very cheesy. The kids wants some shoes so mom looks good for Jesus? That’s nice, but shouldn’t she have a nice dress too? But more than anything… I hate this song, because it’s all about the song writer bragging about his good deeds. The last half of the song is about him buying the shoes for the kid. This song, for some reason, just makes me angry. The video is pretty cheesy too.