Parishioner Julie Marr is past chair of the Christ Church Wellness Commission, and is trained in spiritual direction. We are grateful for the many ways she shares her gifts, including this story, with our parish.

Maas Brothers department store in Tampa was a fun place to work during high school in the late 1970s. Punch the clock and your timecard listed where you’d spend the following shift. It might be linens or lamps or wigs or even “Fine Candies.” The Suncoast Room restaurant on the third floor hosted Breakfast with Santa on December Saturday mornings. My holidays included being an elf at these events, subbing in as the Talking Christmas Tree in the children’s department, and frenzied bouts at the gift wrapping station. But nothing was as festive as a shift in the twinkling wonderland known as “Trim-A-Home,” which magically appeared on the second floor of the store the day after Thanksgiving.

Trim-A-Home is where Mom spotted the créche. A Nativity scene, handmade in Italy, absolutely stunning, and incredibly expensive. She really, really wanted it, but we already had a perfectly fine créche at home and the price was just too high.

Fast forward to December 26th, when Maas Brothers opened super early for the epic after-Christmas sale. I punched the clock at dawn and couldn’t believe my assignment: Trim-A-Home. Pinning on my name tag, I braced for the melee to come. That’s when I spotted the créche. Marked down fifty percent, and with my employee discount, the price was miraculously within reach. I gathered up the set, teetered to the stock room, and taped a hold tag on the roof of the manger. It is more beautiful today than ever.

Do you set out a créche during Advent?

Have you ever thought of preparing a créche in your heart?

This kind of créche is actually a sacred inner space for waiting, wondering, and keeping watch. For discovering what new life God wants to be born in you. It is for receiving gifts of love across time and place, wisdom from on high, the miracle of a deeper faith.

If you’d like to ponder this idea in your heart, Wellness Director Mollee Reitz and I invite you to join us this Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, from 10 – 11 am in the Green Room. It’s just one of the many special offerings and activities planned for all ages to usher in this sacred season. All of the details can be found here.

While holy moments can happen anytime and everywhere, even a department store in December, you’ll experience them in abundance at Christ Church during Advent. It is a time of gorgeous decorations, glorious music, and tidings of great meaning as we prepare to commemorate the birth of Christ.

Come worship. Come pray for loved ones in the memorial garden. Come rest your soul in the quiet of the chapel. Think of it as a créche of sorts on Providence Road, with love at its center.

- Julie Marr