By Amber Weigand- Buckley
Christmas 1979.
Jimmy Carter was president, and I was a little kid with a bowl cut sitting cross-legged on the carpet with what I can only describe as the holy trinity of childhood desire: the Sears catalog, the Montgomery Ward catalog, and the special JCPenney catalog.
This was peak Wishbook era, and I would go through those pages circling things with precision. And there it was—a tiny wooden upright piano.
Not a real piano. This thing had little bells inside. It was basically a fancy xylophone having an identity crisis. But to little me? It was everything.
Christmas morning came, and there it was under the tree. I have a picture of that moment—me at that piano, hands on the keys. You can see it on my face: pure wonder. Because in that moment, I wasn’t just a kid with a toy. I was part of a symphony.
When Xylophone-Pianos Point to God
Every time I think about wonder, I think about that piano. And honestly? I still am part of a symphony.
We all are. Here’s what I’ve been thinking about—there is a present of discovery as we sink into God’s presence every day. You hear that? Present. Presence.
We get to unwrap His presents—these gifts He’s giving us—in His presence. Every single day. But do we? Do we wait for them? Do we see them? Do we have that anticipation, that excitement we had as kids circling things in the Sears catalog? Or have we just … lost the wonder?
Starlight is miraculous despite the scientific framework we give it. The sunrise is miraculous. How a tree grows is miraculous. All of it. And yet somehow, the beauty of these presents becomes an afterthought. Or not even a thought at all.
The Astronomer, the Wise Men, and Why Science Doesn’t Ruin Christmas
A few years back, I interviewed an astronomer from Answers in Genesis about the Star of Bethlehem.
You know that celestial GPS of The Nativity? Matthew tells us: “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ … the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed” (Matthew 2:1–2, 9–10 NIV).
They were overjoyed when they saw the star. That’s wonder. That’s discovery. And it led them straight to Jesus. So I talked with this astronomer about the theories. Was it a comet? A supernova? A planetary alignment?
And he said something that’s stuck with me: “You know, we can hypothesize all day about what that star was— scientifically speaking. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t discount the wonder.”
We can study stars, understand physics—and none of that makes the miracle less miraculous. That star— whatever it was scientifically—led those wise men to worship Jesus. The wonder led to discovery. The discovery led to worship.
God Isn’t Threatened by Your Questions (He Made Photosynthesis, Remember?)
God gave us minds that crave discovery. That curiosity? That’s not despite God. That’s because of God.
When a kid asks “why is the sky blue?” we don’t say, “Stop asking questions!” We explain it. And somehow, understanding the physics makes the sunset more beautiful, not less. God isn’t threatened by our questions. He’s the one who made photosynthesis!
He’s the one who embedded these discoverable patterns into creation and then gave us the brains to find them! I think of faith like unwrapping Christmas presents.
Every question we ask, every discovery we make—we’re unwrapping another layer. We’re seeing another facet of the One who made it all. We’re finding ourselves in the symphony.
And the beautiful thing? The box never runs out.
7 Ways to Unwrap the Presents in His Prescence
So how do we actually do this? Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Appreciate the simple things outside of yourself. Stop looking inward and look out. Notice the steam rising from your coffee. The specific sound of your kid’s laugh.
2. Look at the world with wonder. Ask “how does that work?” like you’re five years old again.
3. Recognize the faces around you. The people pouring into your life—see them. They’re part of God’s gift to you.
4. Get out of your house. Change your scenery and watch what happens to your perspective.
5. Be thankful for things that make your life easier. These aren’t mundane—they’re miraculous.
6. Ask questions without needing all the answers. Let mystery be mystery.
7. Wake up expecting presents. Not Amazon packages, but actual moments of discovery in God’s presence.
When Wooden Pianos End Up in the Attic
When you’re a kid with a wooden piano, you believe you’re part of something bigger.
But then life happens. And suddenly that wooden piano is just a toy in the attic. The presents we could be unwrapping in God’s presence every day become afterthoughts. The miraculous becomes mundane.
But what if we refused to let that happen? What if we kept digging? Kept discovering?
Kept asking, “God, who am I in this beautiful thing You’re creating?”
Still Proceeding, Still Following
This Christmas, I want to shift my whole relationship with God into one of discovering these great presents I get to unwrap in His presence. The wise men followed a star of wonder, and it led them to Jesus. That same wonder is available to us today.
May we never lose that childlike posture of awe. May there always be presents to unwrap in His presence. May we never stop following the star of wonder that guides us to perfect light.
Because every single day, you and I are part of some beautiful symphony that God is conducting. That’s the wonder. That’s the discovery worth chasing.
Amber Weigand-Buckley, editor of Leading Hearts, is an award-winning author and podcaster. For more insights like this, subscribe to #randomdevothoughts with Amber: Insights on the Jesus Heart from an ADHD Mind, available on all podcast platforms and Coffee Chat with Amber & Lisa.
