Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Jump In With Both Feet (11/28/19)
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TITLE: The Christmas Project | Previous Challenge Entry
By Dennis Gallemore
12/02/19 -
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Tipping back his chair, he snorted in reply. “My aren’t we dramatic this morning, oh wife of mine. Jessica, relax. I’ve got this.”
“We have three days until Christmas Eve. That’s not enough time.”
“Not enough time? I scoff at your unbelief.”
“Oh, I have lots of faith, just not a whole lot in your Christmas schemes. What was it last year? Your own real-life reindeer? Remember how that worked out?”
“That was last year; this is this year.”
Reaching across the table, she gently grasped her husband’s arm. “Honey, I love you. You know that. It’s just that sometimes your plans are a little bigger than your preparations are. You’re jumping in with both feet again.”
“Jessica, I have three whole days to prepare. You can’t tell me that I’m not going to be able to build a life-size manger in our yard!”
“Yes, I could tell you that and I am telling you that. The only thing you have built out of wood was a bird house that looks like M.C. Escher built it.”
He nodded. “You’ve got me there. It is a little crooked. But that doesn’t matter. I’m going to have help.”
“What help?”
Grinning, he pointed to a laptop lying on the table. “Online how-to videos. I found the perfect one: Build a Life-Size Manger Scene in Sixty-Two Easy Steps.”
Jessica squeezed her eyes shut. “Heaven help us!”
***
Stepping out of the house, Jessica made her way to the mound of lumber littering the yard. Her husband stood with a two-by-four in one hand and a framing square in the other. “Jonathan? Are you finished?”
He shook his head. “Very funny, Jessica. Look, I know it looks like just a pile of lumber but it’s soon going to be a complete manger.”
Stepping over to his side, she handed a Thermos and a cup to him. “Ready for a break? I brought you some hot chocolate.”
“Sure, thanks.”
“Honey, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Are you going to be able to put this thing together? You don’t have much time left. Everyone’s coming over for dinner at five tomorrow.”
He poured a cup of the steaming chocolaty drink and took a sip. “Delicious. Yeah, Honey, I will. You’ll see.”
“Can I help?” She eyed the scattered boards skeptically. “Maybe we could build a smaller version.”
“Nope. Go big or go home; that’s what I always say, Jessica.”
“Just before disaster strikes,” she muttered.
“What did you say? I didn’t hear you.”
“Nothing, Jonathan.”
***
Jonathan stood in the yard, his arms crossed, his back ramrod straight. “It’s done, Jessica! You didn’t think I could build a life-size manger, but there it is!”
Unsure of what to say, she simply nodded, her eyes on the cluster of boards that did, she decided, somewhat resemble a manger. Reluctantly, she pulled a phone out of a coat pocket. “I suppose I should take a picture of it.”
Her husband grinned. “Sure! Save a picture for posterity. That’s going to be a picture for your scrapbook, right?”
Suppressing a grimace, she nodded again. “Sure, it is. We wouldn’t want to lose the memory of this moment.”
“No, we wouldn’t.” Stepping closer, he wrapped an arm around her waist. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Honey.”
“Partners in crime,” she said under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, dear.”
***
The Christmas Eve party was in full swing. “Jonathan, I have to say, you are an artist.”
He grinned at his brother-in-law. “Bob, that’s a real compliment coming from you. I don’t paint like you do, but I think I’ve found my medium: wood!”
“Yes, you certainly have. You know, when I first arrived and saw that manger outside, I thought that was the sorriest looking one I’d ever seen. Then, I had an epiphany. You were expressing Christmas in an artistic way. Jesus, who was perfect, was born in a manger, into an imperfect world. That manger you built is the very definition of imperfect. You were simply highlighting that most important of concepts in a very artistic manner. Well done!”
Suppressing a laugh, Jessica punched Jonathan’s arm. “Yeah, that’s my husband! The Accidental Artist!”
Proverbs 19:2 (MSG): “Ignorant zeal is worthless; haste makes waste.”
(Work of fiction)
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