Saturday, December 09, 2006

A Long Winter's Nap . . . and Two Thumbs Up for the Nativity

A fun event every Christmas comes when the tree is up and blazing in its splendor, and we anticipate several consecutive days of no guests. Then Josh and I pull out the air mattress, cover it in quilts, and sleep by the Christmas tree. I have always thought that sounded fun, and the first year we got married, we were like kids (HEY! We can do whatever we want -- the perpetual slumber party!) and decided to sleep by the tree. Now it is tradition. It is precious curl up in the golden glow of the tree lights, reading to ourselves, or one another, and falling asleep with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads. :)

Part two: Last night we went to see "The Nativity" movie. It was great! If you don't live in an area that has an awesome Bethlehem Marketplace like my friend Donette, then it is worth seeing just for the picturesque landscapes that New Line is famous for (like Lord of the Rings). I also thought the acting was quite good, especially Joseph and Elizabeth. Mary was not my favorite because she was a bit pouty, as if young women back then went through the "rebellious teenage years" like they are supposed to now. The only thing that was explicitly unbiblical was the vision of Zechariah (no angel, just some speaking smoke in the temple). And of course, you can question the arrival of the wise men just hours after the Messiah was born (but the wise men were my favorite part, giving a bit of comic relief). Otherwise, I loved it, especially the masterful weaving together of regional music with popular Christmas carols (strains of Away in a Manger play as Mary places Jesus in the Manger). I think th
e movie did a great job boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ to be God. The wise men give their gifts with lines like "Gold . . . for the King above all kings". Wow! I am thrilled that this movie was made to try to capture the wonder of in Incarnation.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

sleeping by the tree looks very fun and cozy!!!

We thought the Nativity Story was so so good. I started crying as soon as Mary first saw Elizabeth...until the very end.

Gretchen said...

I cried too! I loved Elizabeth the best!

Anonymous said...

gret - fyi - i was listening to moody radio and the director of the Natvity Story was being interviewed. he said they had to decide whether to take the story from matthew or luke. they took the bulk of the story from luke, but put the wise men in there from matthew, because everyone associates the wise men with jesus' birth. :)

you and josh did a good job speaking last night. you both will be missed. i wish neil could have had some time downstairs with you! caleb always wants to know "do i get to be downstairs with miss gretchen?"

Anonymous said...

Hey Gretchen,
Sleeping by the tree on an air mattress? That would be torture to me! I prefer my tempurpedic! I'm glad you had fun, though.
Dan and I are hoping to see The Nativity, but our weekends are filling up before Christmas. We will be in Normal the weekend of, so maybe we'll sneak away and let the grandparents watch the kiddos!
It's good to know that you liked it so much.

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of sleeping by the tree...maybe I'll put my blanket on the dining room table and settle down for the evening...

PS - glad that so many liked the Nativity...I'm still a little torn by the fact that the girl is really pregnant...thus, I haven't seen it yet.

GloryandGrace said...

Haha, found your profile picture!! I was looking for a picture to put with my newest post, typed in "girl reading" on Google and saw the picture you selected :)

Gretchen said...

Meg -- thanks for the encouragement! And for the wonderful gift! It was quite the mystery when we came back downstairs and there were presents there! I thought they were for some of the kids, but nope! For the grown-ups! :)
Net -- I will admit too many nights on the air mattress will make one sore. We have to choose when enough is enough. :)

G-Knee -- Oh, the Nativity is SO GOOD! You should totally see it even though the actress is it is immoral. :) It was the perfect movie for this Christmas!

Grace -- ha ha! I almost used the one you picked for your post!