Advent Basket Day 20 & Jesse Tree

Not many bags left to open in my Advent Basket! 5 days to Christmas. Bag number 20 has a crumpled piece of foil in it. I'm trying to remember comments the kids would make with these miniatures and readings. Written on the parchment paper: "Can you try and smooth this and see yourself? Read I Corinthians 13:12. It may be fuzzy and hard to understand, but one day it will be made clear."

If you do the Jesse Tree Advent readings you're about to leave the Old Testament stories and prophets. Today's reading is about Nehemiah returning to rebuild the Jerusalem walls. 

Just thinking of this brings the memories of the returned Jews cleaning out the temple and finding the scrolls. Because the stories had not been told for generations, festivals had not been celebrated - where the retelling and re-living their story happens, the people did not know. They stood the entire time of the reading of their story - standing, listening, and weeping.

The coming of a Messiah is what the prophets foretold. Jesus comes, and yet there's still a lot of unknowing, non-understanding. I can imaging weeping in the seeing and understanding of the whole Larger Story - some sadness, but I bet, primarily love and joy!