Beading with a Purpose - Celebrating the Christ in Christmas

I remember the first year I met the D'Ambrosio family.  After knowing them just a few months, the holidays rolled into our lives.  We decorated a Christmas tree at Tony's house.  Teresa, age 13, pulled out a raggedy wooden Manger scene and took it into the family room.  After a while, she called us into the family room and pointed to it and said, "This is the real meaning of Christmas."  And she proceeded to tell us about the Manger scene she had assembled.

After becoming part of the family, and helping the girls complete their necessary communion classes and prayer classes, it became clear that going to church never made the priority list.  We have so many things going on at our house during the week, that the weekends are a time to catch up on things.  The thought of getting dressed up and attending a worship service on a Sunday morning would be a luxury.  Generally, we are trying to get ready for Monday morning and doing all that needs to be done to make it happen.  That includes addressing multiple lingering nuisance bleeds. Those bleeds can catch up with you - first it's a nose bleed that comes and goes, then a finger cut that needs another layer of another band-aid, and then if one more thing happens, it's time to take care of things and go get some FFP.


It's been eighteen years since Teresa first told us about the Manger scene.  This year, her wish was to not have any Christmas shopping, events, gifts, decorations or a tree. All of this mixed in with medication issues caused just too much noise and anxiety.

So, on Christmas Day, I asked her if she wanted to attend a Mass.  She nodded.  We got dressed and went to the same church where she grew up and took her communion classes.  We took it all in, admiring the Manger scene, the stained glass windows and the sermon, most of which we couldn't understand because the Priest had a thick accent.  The calming effect of attending a place she remembered brought a sense of hope and we lit a candle to welcome in the New Year.

Later that week we began making a necklace, one with a cross.  Teresa wears it most days now.  Some very good days.