Christmas Card 2008: Joanna's Christmas Gingerbread House

Joanna sat at the kitchen table with red and green paper, scissors, and crayons spread out in front of her. Christmas was just a week away, and there was so much to do. There were Christmas cards and letters to Santa to write. There were presents to make. But most of all, Joanna was thinking about the beautiful gingerbread house her mother had promised they would make together.

Joanna had seen the picture of such a house on the cover of a magazine. It was wonderful. The roof was made with marshmallows and the walls were covered with sugar plums and hard candy. Vanilla icing dripped down its sides and over the pretzel fence and gum drop bushes surrounding the house. And in front of the house, greeting all who marveled at its holiday glow, were a gingerbread Santa and Mrs. Claus. This surely was as good as Christmas could be.

Puddles, Joanna's white fuzzy pup, nudged against her leg. Joanna looked down under the table and there was Puddles trying to eat the scraps of green and red paper that had fallen off the table. That paper sure looked good, Puddles thought, but didn't taste like much. A chocolate chip cookie would be much better.

Just then Joanna's father walked into the kitchen. He was putting up the Christmas lights outside the house. Even at five years old, Joanna knew that putting up Christmas lights usually meant Dad was in a bad mood.

"Quit eating that paper, Puddles!" Dad growled at the dog.

"Grrrrrrr!" Puddles growled back. Nobody was going to interrupt her Christmas paper lunch!!

"It's starting to snow," Dad announced. "Looks like we’re going to have a white Christmas this year. But it is too darn cold to put out any more lights. We are just going to have to make do with what I have already done."

Joanna's mother, who was cooking dinner, smiled knowingly. He could have put out the lights last week when it was sunny and not quite as cold.

"I told you last week never to put off until tomorrow what you can do today, but you didn't listen," she gently scolded.

Joanna laughed. It was fun seeing Dad get into trouble. Puddles barked and barked. He is getting just what he deserves, Puddles thought.

"Tonight, after dinner, Joanna and I are going to the market to buy the supplies to make our gingerbread house," Mom announced.

"That's a good idea," Dad answered. "And while you are gone, I can put up the Christmas tree and string on the lights." Puddles immediately ran and hid in the closet. She knew that if there was anything worse than Dad putting up the outside lights, it was Dad putting up the Christmas tree.

After dinner, Mom and Joanna left Dad with all the tree lights tangled in a heap on the living floor, and drove to the market. The candy aisle was filled with all sorts of candies. There were red candies, ribbon candies, hot candies and mint candies. There were chocolate candies and cream candies. There were so many candies that Joanna and her Mom took an hour to pick out just the right assortment.

By the time Mom and Joanna returned home, Dad had managed to put up the Christmas tree, and the lights were on, and they all worked, almost! One string just didn't seem to work right, blinking out of control.

"Never mind," Mom told him, "We'll look for a lose bulb tomorrow." Puddles poked her nose out of the closet to see if the coast was clear, and quietly sneaked into her blanket in the cozy corner of the kitchen and went to sleep.

Joanna slept in the next morning, and woke up to the wonderful smell of fresh baked gingerbread. She ran down the steps to find that her mom had already cut out the walls and roof from the gingerbread sheets. Lined up on the kitchen table were bowls containing newly mixed vanilla icing and all of the candies they had purchased the night before.

What a morning they had!!! Joanna and her Mom carefully assembled the house, and candy by candy transformed the house into a fairy tale cottage. The finishing touch was a gingerbread Santa and Mrs. Claus welcoming everyone at the front door. It was prettier than the picture on the cover of the magazine.

"What should we do with it?" Mom asked Joanna.

"I know. Let's use it for a centerpiece on the dining room table," Joanna answered.

And very carefully Mom lifted the gingerbread house and placed it between two red candles on the dining room table on top of a red and gold Christmas tablecloth. They stood back and looked at their marvelous creation. It certainly made this Christmas the perfect Christmas, Joanna thought.

Meanwhile, Dad was in the living room putting the finishing touches on the Christmas tree. Puddles ears perked up as she watched Dad pull reach into a storage box and pull out a tree garland of red and green paper rings Joanna had made last Christmas.

"Oh boy," Puddles said to herself, "more red and green paper."

And before you could say HO, HO, HO, Puddles jumped at the tree and pulled off the garland along with three ornaments and a string of lights, and ran through the house with Dad chasing her. But poor Dad couldn't keep up.

Puddles was trying to bark, run, and hold the paper in her mouth all at the same time. As she looked back at Dad chasing her into the dining room, a hook from one of the ornaments caught onto the red and gold Christmas table cloth. In the blink of an eye, off flew the table cloth, candles, and the beautiful gingerbread house, crashing down right on top of Puddles.

Joanna and her mom gasped. There, in the middle of the dining room, Puddles sat, with the ring of paper in her mouth, tree lights around her neck, and the roof to the gingerbread house sitting squarely on her head. Her fur was covered with icing, and the gingerbread Santa Claus stuck on the tip of her tail. What a mess. The family surveyed the damage.

"Not much can be done to save the house, I'm afraid," said Dad.

Joanna ran to her room and cried and cried. How could Puddles be so inconsiderate as to ruin her gingerbread house! Puddles went to her blanket and sadly put her head down, quietly licking the icing off of her fur.

Christmas Eve came. It was a picture snowy night. Joanna's family had their traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Afterwards, they all sang Christmas carols and went to church. The church was ablaze with candles and decorated from top to bottom with fragrant, fresh pine roping. The choir raised their voices in glorious song. Off to the side was a nativity scene representing Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus in a stable. But all the way home, Joanna couldn't help but remember her lost gingerbread house.

"Time to get ready for bed, Joanna! Santa is coming tonight," Mom said as she brought out Joanna's pajamas.

"I still miss my house," Joanna cried softly to her Mom as she was tucked into bed.

"Don't be sad, Joanna," Mom said. "Gingerbread houses, Santa Claus, trees and lights are all fun at Christmas, but the true meaning of Christmas is God's son sent to us more than 2000 years ago because God loved us so much. It is God's love that is important at Christmas."

Joanna fell asleep thinking of the story she heard in church that night, of a tiny baby born in Bethlehem, of singing angels, of shepherds and kings, and of God's love for her and all of us. Maybe the house wasn't so important, after all. Next to her in bed, Puddles snuggled into her warm blankets.

On Christmas morning, Joanna and Puddles jumped out of bed and raced down the steps. The tree was lit, almost! One of the lines still didn't work right. And under the tree were presents from Santa wrapped in green and red foil paper, each shimmering under the lights from the tree.

But Puddles didn't stay in the living room. As the family settled down to some serious gift unwrapping, they heard Puddles barking and barking in the dining room. They ran to see what was making her was so upset. There, in the center of the dining room table, was a beautiful gingerbread house, as pretty as the one Joanna and her Mom had made.

"Oh, Mom!" Joanna exclaimed. "It's beautiful. Thank you for making me another one."

Joanna's Mom looked at Dad and shrugged her shoulders.

"But I didn't," she said.

They looked closely at the house, and inside the window they saw a tiny object. What could it be? Joanna's father shined a flashlight in the window, and inside he saw a miniature manger with a piece of paper lying on it. On the paper, in gold lettering, were the words "Peace on Earth! Goodwill to Men!"

Joanna and her mother and father could only stare in amazement. Puddles continued to bark and bark, each bark saying Merry Christmas.

Copyright Mark G. Mangie 2008