Epiphany

Yesterday was the Epiphany. Also known as “The Little Christmas” and “Three Kings’ Day”, it commemorates the journey and arrival of the three kings who traveled to Bethlehem to see the baby king, Jesus.

It is interesting to me that I have always known about Epiphany, even way before I was Catholic. We always kept the tree up until Jan. 6th because it was Three Kings’ Day and because it was my dad’s birthday. Just so happens it is also my sister’s father-in-law birthday – isn’t that an odd coincidence? Both her father and father-in-law have the same birthday. OK, so I’m awed by weird facts, but I digress.

We had a little celebration here at the Maverick Outpost (hey, I just made that up and I like it) last night that included prayer and a house blessing, then continued today with crown making and playing kings. Here are some pictures.

The house blessing. Here Matt is writing (with chalk) over our front door. It says:

20+K+M+B+08 Which is the year (2008) surrounding each of the king’s initials( Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar) separated with crosses.

Here are the kings.
Marty as King Martin from Rome.
Sarah as King Jesse from Italy.
Amy as King Michael from Mexico.
Theo as King Matthew from China.
Of course this prompted a discussion about how not all countries have kings.And how some have dictators, presidents, chairmen, etc.
Another interesting conversation was had about Italy vs. Italian, and America vs. American.
Hey, we’re just learnin’ all the time here!

I had another epiphany of sorts today, and as many of these such things are, it was not all that pleasant when it hit. Tonight I feel more peaceful and know in my heart that the changes coming will be for the greater good of our family.