Saturday, February 2, 2013

Dearest God,

We sat on the couch, the three of us.  Rylan, five, Lucy, seven, and I looked at the nativity scene on the coffee table.  It was time to wrap it up and put it away until next Advent season.  But I felt the need to spend just a bit more time with it.

First, we took out the animals and held them in our hands.  "What was important about the animals?"  I asked my grandchildren.  Lucy raised her hand.  "The donkey carried Mary!"  She explained.  We went through all the animals even to the lambs and decided that there bleating baa was like a song that put baby Jesus to sleep.

Next, we held the shepherds.  We said we were glad they heard the angels sing and they came running to the stable.  Rylan reminded us the shepherds did a good job taking care of the sheep.

Then we held the wise men.  Rylan was thrilled to hold the wise man with the gold.  Lucy told us it was important they brought gifts to Jesus to buy food.

Next Rylan held Joseph and told us Joseph was important because he helped take care of Jesus and even changed his diapers.  Lucy lovingly held Mary and said she fed Jesus and took care of him too.  When they held Jesus, they told me he was love.

The last thing we talked about was the stable and the star.  The stable was important because it was a safe, dry place for Jesus and the star was important because it shined for everybody to see.

And then we prayed together giving thanks for all of it.

Wondrous God,
thank you
for being a
February God
as well
as a
December God.
Thank you
for the nativity
that still speaks
weeks after Christmas.
Thank you
for grandchildren
who get
the story.

Love, Andrea