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Finding Baby Jesus: A Novella

By Lynn Weathington

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It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas, even though Leigh
Mitchell Day’s calendar showed late October and colorful autumn
leaves swayed in the early afternoon sun. Busy municipal workers
were wiring ornaments to the lampposts and replacing fall festival
banners with those highlighting Butlerdale, Georgia’s yuletide
activities. Tonight was movie night at Moon and Stars, and Leigh
finished changing the marquee to show the featured presentation.
xer sta- would show up in the evening to sell tickets, work
the concession stand, and provide security. xer phone rang, and
she returned inside to take the call from the university about an
upcoming event.

The call was brief, and she sat sorting marquee letters for the next
event. Glancing up from the desk, she raked her hand under her
shoulder-length auburn hair as she rose to watch a delivery truck back
into a vacant parking space out front.

Hugo Barnes, a burly man who delivered packages for most of
his adult life, sighed as he opened the back of the vehicle to pull
the theater's parcels. xe noticed the Rolly Christmas decorations
and groaned. Hugo never enjoyed the holidays and dreaded the
inevitable confrontations of frustrated customers who thought he
could magically pull their precious cargo out of proverbial thin air.
Grumbling to himself as he labored, he slid the final box out. It
snagged on another package, tearing the packing tape and leaving a
quarter-sized cavity. Shaking his head, he grabbed the box, turned
it upside down to hide the hole, and placed it on his hand truck.
Rolling the cargo past the ticket window, he met Leigh in her
doorway.

"Got a lot of boxes today for you, Leigh," he stated in a
huff as she opened the door. "Just show me where you want 'em."

Once the grumpy courier dropped the parcels in the lobby and
departed, Leigh began a hasty inventory, noting that most of them
contained props and costumes for the upcoming production of "It’s
a Wonderful Life." There was one, however, that held something
quite different.

After she and her husband, Jeremy, renovated the farmhouse where
generations of her family lived, she desired to keep certain holiday
customs alive. She remembered with fondness her mother setting
up a tabletop nativity scene. Over the years, that well-used porcelain
set served its purpose. Lately, Leigh wanted to begin new traditions,
which included this set from Italy, manufactured by Fontanini™.
Leigh smiled as she read the return address. She carefully sat
the container inside her office to take home later, as she had an
out-of-town appointment.

Driving toward Atlanta, she began to pray.

"Lord," she audibly spoke while maneuvering past the afternoon
traffic jam around Butler High School. "Be with me today. You must
be tired of me asking you over and over for a miracle." Struggling with
her prayer, tears stung her eyes. Wiping her face with the back of her
hand, she whispered, "Please help us."

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