For Gillian Sherwood, the end of her marriage and her move back home brought a surprise feeling of joy. Yes, discovering her childhood treasures, including beloved Christmas ornaments, had been lost in a flood incident was hard. But she had a dream job building historical dioramas at the local museum and dear friends near. Everything was lovely until her parents said they were giving her grandmother's farmhouse, which was supposed to go to Gillian, to the new pastor, recently from Ireland.

How was she supposed to deal with this, she would ask her faithful Parson Russell terrier Charlie, who always listened carefully. Seeing her Christmas tree in the living room bare of the ornaments she'd remembered so well, imagining she'd be stuck in her apartment forever, her only recourse was to recreate a life-sized diorama to represent a Victorian Christmas for the museum. She only had three weeks, but magical things began to happen, like finding a perfect replica of an 1800s music box at the Christmas market, and a vendor who told her she had "the gift."

But she stayed distant from the new pastor, until she listened to his sermon on the meaning of compassion. And felt comfort for the first time in a long time.