Away in a manger…

This morning, on “the Facebook,” a friend posted a video of a live nativity scene made up of some adorable children at a church in East Tennessee. The children are dressed as Mary, Joseph, an angel, and some sheep…all gathered around Baby Jesus in the manger. It’s a beautiful scene…right up until one of the sheep steals the Baby Jesus! Honestly, it might make it even more beautiful, because kids will be kids. In the scene, a little girl is portraying a sheep, and I guess she decides Baby Jesus needs to be held. She picks him up and begins swaying to the music with him, until Mary takes him away from her and returns him to the manger…and repeat. You can see the video here.

It reminded me of the live nativity at our church when our daughter was a little girl. It was presented outdoors at our church for two weekends during the Christmas season, and it was, indeed, beautiful. Our daughter, as a toddler/small child, found it fascinating, and she longed to portray Mary. In fact, when she was four, she spent a large portion of the Christmas season pretending to be “Mother Mary,” dressed as Mary with a head veil when we were home. I don’t recall her wearing it in public, but she wore it a lot at home. The days of her pretending to be “Mother Mary” are far behind us, as she is a sophomore in college. As a small child, her great aunt had a nativity scene on a table in her home, and when we gathered for the holidays, she let our daughter place the tiny, ceramic Baby Jesus in the manger before we had lunch. She was thrilled, and even though she did get to portray an angel in a Christmas pageant at a friend’s church when she was six or seven, she never portrayed “Mother Mary” in a live nativity scene.

When I was a little girl, I admired the small, wooden nativity scenes my mother had in our house during the holidays, and I especially remember a live nativity scene at a local church. The Biblical figures were portrayed by adults instead of children, but I remember driving slowly past with my family to see it and being fascinated. I thought it was the most beautiful scene every year.

When our daughter gets home from college for the holidays tomorrow, she will spend her time visiting with friends in town, going on vacation with me, and possibly visiting friends in other cities. However, we will take some time to visit a live nativity scene together, and we’ll drive around and look at Christmas lights throughout the city.

I doubt she will dress as “Mother Mary” this year, though.

***Feature photo is from a beautiful nativity scene in the Iglesia de San Felipe (Church of San Felipe) in Casco Viejo, Panamá City, Panamá.

***In Charlotte, we are fortunate to have the Billy Graham Library, where we can enjoy a live nativity during the holiday season, starting at 5pm, every day except Sunday, through December 23. Tickets are required but are free. For info, click here.

***To see other nativity events in the Charlotte area, click here.