Lights and a Big Red Bow

Christmas is completely upon us now.  I have been watching the neighbors adding lights and decorations to their homes this week.  Our next door neighbors have had a Christmas light display that is quite fabulous for the last several years. (There is even music if you roll down your window.)  We are more than happy to be the official turnaround point after people have taken in the show.  Each year recently our outdoor display has consisted of the view of our tree from the front window and a giant red bow on the front door that is in honor of my mother.  As I have watched each home become lit up this week, I have felt the need to be a little more festive.  Luckily my friend had a couple long strings of colored lights that she was giving up for adoption,  and I took the time.  Not because I felt a competition with the other houses, but because there was a spirit I felt of celebration and childlike joy when I see the other displays that I wanted at our house.  There is just something that makes me smile when I drive around at night and see beautiful lights from house to house that creates an unspoken camaraderie between people who are strangers to one another.  It is a sign of the fact that people feel hope.  Without hope there is no need to celebrate.  And there is nothing more worthy of celebration than the birth of our Savior who came into the world "To bring light to those that sit in darkness..."