NATCHEZ &8212; When Kathleen Jenkins describes Christmas she uses words like big, overwhelming, splendid, uncontrollable, traditional and surprising.

&8220;I believe that Christmas is important because it knocks us out of our everyday ruts,&8221; the Trinity Episcopal Church vestry member said.

&8220;On any given day, we tend to think that we have things figured out and that everything is under control,&8221; Jenkins said. &8220;I need for God to be mysterious beyond my understanding, especially during Christmas&8221;

As a child Jenkins remembers many holidays helping her family decorate and cook for the holiday. Growing up in and around Vicksburg, she remembers driving around looking at Christmas lights and visiting seldom-seen relatives.

But most of all she remembers the extraordinary events, like the church&8217;s annual Nativity pageant or a tiny snow globe depicting the city of Bethlehem.

&8220;I can remember holding it

and shaking it up and being in awe,&8221; Jenkins. &8220;It was like being there.&8221;

Like children who experience the season with wonder and awe without the layers of skepticism and critical analysis that adults too often bring to religious matters, Jenkins says Christmas gives her the opportunity to see the world as a child again.

&8220;It is like the never-forgotten effect of hearing a soprano sing

&8216;O Holy Night&8217; in a darkened church smelling of evergreens and lit only by candles,&8221; Jenkins said.

And even though she revels in the greatness of God and the season, Jenkins says she still uses the weeks before Christmas as a time of rejuvenation and realignment in her life.

As a daily ritual, Jenkins tries during the Advent season to sit in the quiet and read evening prayer.

&8220;I look forward to that moment when this little bit of order is restored,&8221; Jenkins said. &8220;It is a reconnecting with tradition we seldom do in our modern lives.&8221;

But it is the mystery of Christmas that Jenkins says she values the most.

&8220;You can call it magic or miracles, but it is comforting knowing there are bigger things at work that we don&8217;t understand,&8221; Jenkins said. &8220;It is like taking time out from this world.&8221;