Changes

The book is set in a parallel time sequence, the sequences covering the same period (May through Christmas Day) 40 years apart.

The book is set in a parallel time sequence, the sequences covering the same period (May through Christmas Day) 40 years apart.

The older sequence takes place in 1972 and features the Creighton family (husband John, wife Joan, and children Gigi and Christopher).  John, a novice woodworker, is taking on an ambitious project: make a custom-made black walnut kitchen table by October.  Meanwhile, Joan (with the help of her children) is learning to cook from handwritten recipe cards given to her by her mother.

The older sequence takes place in 1972 and features the Creighton family (husband John, wife Joan, and children Gigi and Christopher).  John, a novice woodworker, is taking on an ambitious project: make a custom-made, round, black walnut kitchen table by October.  Meanwhile, Joan (with the help of her children) is learning to cook from handwritten recipe cards given to her by her mother.

Both projects, though, are continually delayed by Joan's being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, requiring several chemotherapy treatments and at least two surgeries.  The Creightons are not a religious family, but ultimately are led to seek God and Jesus through three divine interventions:

Both projects, though, are continually delayed by Joan's being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, requiring several chemotherapy treatments and at least two surgeries.  The Creightons are not a religious family, but ultimately are led to seek God and Jesus through three divine interventions:

The newer sequence takes place in 2012 and features the continuing story of Lauren Mabrey<ref>Formerly known as Lauren Gabriel before her marriage to Travis Mabrey, her story is told in the previous two books, ''[[The Christmas Town (book)|The Christmas Town]]'' (where after a night of aimless driving to escape her unhappy and unfulfilling life -- due in large part to being abandoned by her parents, and raised in the foster care system -- discovers Grandon by "accident" -- literally, as she witnesses a hit-and-run accident -- and upon returning to identify the driver, she continued to return there to volunteer for an upcoming fundraiser and ultimately finds the "family" she never had growing up) and ''[[The Christmas Star (book)|The Christmas Star]]'' (which shows her having moved to Grandon and her marriage to Travis)</ref>.  Having lived in Grandon for around a year and a half and married to Travis for six months, she continues to volunteer at Glory's Place where she meets a new volunteer, Andrea King (a middle-aged woman with one child in college and the other a high-school senior, who now has more time to volunteer).  Lauren has been ill for several days, which she blames on "supermarket sushi"; Andrea suspects another cause which turns out to be correct: Lauren is pregnant (and later learns that her due date is around her anniversary).

The newer sequence takes place in 2012 and features the continuing story of Lauren Mabrey<ref>Formerly known as Lauren Gabriel before her marriage to Travis Mabrey, her story is told in the previous two books, ''[[The Christmas Town (book)|The Christmas Town]]'' (where after a night of aimless driving to escape her unhappy and unfulfilling life -- due in large part to being abandoned by her parents, and raised in the foster care system -- discovers Grandon by "accident" -- literally, as she witnesses a hit-and-run accident -- and upon returning to identify the driver, she continued to return there to volunteer for an upcoming fundraiser and ultimately finds the "family" she never had growing up) and ''[[The Christmas Star (book)|The Christmas Star]]'' (which shows her having moved to Grandon and her marriage to Travis)</ref>.  Having lived in Grandon for around a year and a half and married to Travis for six months, she continues to volunteer at Glory's Place where she meets a new volunteer, Andrea King (a middle-aged woman with one child in college and the other a high-school senior, who now has more time to volunteer).  Lauren has been ill for several days, which she blames on "supermarket sushi"; Andrea suspects another cause which turns out to be correct: Lauren is pregnant (and later learns that her due date is around her anniversary).

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