Vintage Treasures...

I am obsessed with all things old. It started with my favorite childhood things. The singing angels who adorned the mantel in my parent's home during Christmas. The Terri Lee dolls that I played with as a child. The handmade styrofoam sleigh and reindeer my grandma made years before I was born.




As my family learned of my obsession, I inherited these favorites plus a plethora of other antique items. A family Bible. My aunt's nativity set. My grandma's carnival glass bowls. Volumes of vintage books and historical newspapers. Over time, my obsession became a full-blown addiction. An addiction to vintage Christmas ornaments.

It all began quite innocently. I acquired a dozen or so of my grandmother's ornaments after she passed away. No one else in my family was interested in these colorful, yet blemished, beauties. I thought it a shame to toss these delicate orbs, so naturally they found their way into my home and onto our family Christmas tree. Over the years, I've stumbled across ornaments in thrift stores, I've found boxes on eBay and bought cartons of Shiny Brites at summer garage sales where, gasp(!) other folks thought their worth at a mere buck a box.




My pretties come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some are round. Others teardrop. Still others are bell-shaped. Some are striped. Others solid. These precious ornaments are clothed in various shades of blue, pink, turquoise and green. Each ornament is special. Each ornament is cherished.

During this advent season, I'm reminded of the reason for this season. It's not about presents. It's not about food. It's not even about the gathering of family and friends. And while you may need to search diligently in the midst of the glamour and glitz to find him. He's there.

Jesus.

Jesus came for his precious treasure. He came to rescue the outcasts, the blemished, the seemingly worthless, rejected, black sheep of the world. He sought me out. He searched for you. His addiction is our salvation. And the amazing part is, he went through an even greater rejection because of his love for us.

Isaiah 55:1-6 says it so well.  Here from The Message:

1 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
    Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?
2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
    a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
    nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.

And the end of verse 12 says it in such simple terms:

he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

While we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas, let's rejoice! Rejoice in the fact that our Savior came for us! Rejoice in the knowledge that he intimately loves us. Rejoice in the hope that he gives us - the hope of eternal life!

He is the ultimate gift. Reach out and open the present he offers. His presence. His life.

Merry Christmas, dear friend.