 "I’m Mary,” my three-year-old grand daughter told us. She arranged a silky scarf over her head and tried to fold her hands piously, but the scarf kept slipping off. She grasped it in one hand and reached for her little brother. “This is Baby Jesus.” According to the song, "Joseph was an old man" so perhaps Grandpa can have that role in the picture. Nine-month-old Alex was more interested in reaching for toys and standing by furniture than lying in an imaginary manger, so the pose didn't last very long. Forget that “no crying he makes” part.
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 My house is as decorated as it is going to get, although there are still three boxes of things I haven’t brought out and a second tree I haven’t set up in the family room. Next year. Christmas is upon us, and all my plans to bake ahead have gone out the window in the press of other important activities—like promoting a new book and writing another that is long overdue.  If I hadn’t been focusing on children affected by HIV & AIDS in recent years, I would probably be spending my passion on Arab Christian children, caught between Israelis (who are often convinced that all Arabs are terrorists) and Muslims (who sometimes assume that Christians are sympathetic to Zionists.) Most only want to get on with their lives. The long-standing Christian population of the Middle East has been draining away as featured in a recent National Geographic article.
 We woke this morning to no electricity. I should be used to that after our years in Mozambique, but I don’t expect it in Wisconsin. My daughter describes being at a party in Minnesota as a teen when someone flipped off the lights. Everyone screamed as kids will do—everyone except my daughter, that is. She was overwhelmed with nostalgia for her childhood in Maputo where blackouts were a regular occurrence. We kept the candles and matches in a spot in the kitchen that was easy to find in the dark, and life went on. I attended my first virtual tea party on Friday evening. It was hosted by the delightful, enthusiastic, compassionate Robin Jones Gunn on her Facebook fan page. We all sat at our computers with our own chosen tea and shared virtual cookies (no calories!) starting with Robin’s own Scottish shortbread.
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