With some free time on our hands before the Thanksgiving kickoff to the holiday season, my husband, Tony, and I took an afternoon drive. The trees along the winding streets were lit up in brilliant oranges, reds and golds that made me think of the sparkly Christmas decorations we would soon be hanging. We went all out with twinkling lights on the house, silver tinsel on the tree and ornaments of all kinds. We even had a Nativity to display outside—well, part of a Nativity. Tony’s mother had given us the set of lawn ornaments years ago. We had Joseph, Mary and Jesus. That was it. No wise men, no animals, no angel. I missed the angel figure the most.
Every year when we put up our display, we talked about adding on to the figures we had, but we never did.
For one thing, lawn ornaments were expensive. “Could this be the year we complete our Nativity?” I said as we drove the sun-dappled road.
Tony laughed. “Unlikely.”
“I’m sure you’re right. I just can’t stop thinking of how beautiful it could be.” Not nearly as beautiful as the brilliant autumn leaves God had decorated our drive with, of course. I practiced being thankful for what I had.
“We’ve done fine with just the Holy Family on the lawn,” Tony said. “It gets the message across, and people can imagine the other figures if they like.”
“Exactly,” I said. I never looked at the holy threesome without imagining an angel keeping watch over them.
We turned down another winding street, sunlight dancing on the fallen leaves. The neighborhood was lovely, except for an eyesore on the sidewalk up ahead. I wondered if the homeowners were getting ready for a tag sale, or maybe just cleaning out their garage. Tony slowed the car. We must have both recognized the crowd of plastic figures at the same time.
“Hey, is that a toy soldier I see?” Tony said.
In fact, the figures were lawn decorations. Christmas lawn decorations! We stopped at the curb in front of the house and hopped out for a close look. A toy soldier, a drummer boy… “A wise man!” I said. “Two wise men…and here’s the third!”
Tony patted the heads of a cow and a donkey. “It’s everything we’re missing!” he said with a grin. “And in fine shape too.”
It seemed too good to be true, so Tony and I knocked on the front door. “We’re interested in some of what you have out on the sidewalk,” I explained to the woman who answered. “Are you selling them?”
“Nope,” she said. “They’re free for the taking, first come, first served, so help yourself. Merry Christmas!”
Tony and I hurried back to the curb and opened the trunk. It wasn’t easy maneuvering our plastic passengers into the car. The trunk held the little drummer boy and two of the wise men. The third had to sit in the back seat with the cow and donkey.
“What about the toy soldier?” Tony wanted to know. “And there are some big candles too.”
I considered for a moment. “It’s a little Christmas miracle that we found the figures we really wanted. We should leave the rest for someone else.” We drove home, the donkey’s leg pushing into the back of my seat all the way.
A few weeks later, Tony set everything up. For the first time, we had a complete Nativity scene on the lawn. “Isn’t it beautiful?” I said as we stood outside admiring it.
“Except for one thing,” Tony said. He put his arm around me. “There’s no angel.”
“Oh, there’s definitely an angel in this Nativity,” I said. Maybe not one anyone could see. But who else could have guided us to the right place at the right time that autumn afternoon? The angel I’d always imagined had shown herself to me in our curbside Christmas miracle.
We waited until sunset and lit up the lawn. I remembered the sunlight filtering through those brilliant fall leaves. The “decorations” God had given us as gifts in the natural world were more beautiful than any display we could put out for Christmas. Still, the Nativity he gave us had a beauty all its own.
