When my children were young I had crocheted a nativity set that was set out every Christmas, not on the mantle or place of honor, but on the carpet, for my boys to touch and re-enact the events preceding Christmas morning. The Wise Men and the camel started in the easternmost point, which was under the dining room table. The shepherds and sheep sat on the hearth, the innkeeper and stable, a wooden structure made by my father-in-law, was placed beside the tree. Mary and Joseph and the donkey started beside the coffee table, and every day they made it a little closer to the stable. Every day the children, and the dogs, played with all the characters, and every night, they were all put back in their place.
Christmas morning Mary and Joseph arrived, Jesus was born, the angel was set on the tree above the stable, and the wise men and shepherds made it to the stable to worship Jesus. We said a prayer, and then it was time to open the gifts.
This was our way of keeping the message of Christmas prominent in our home, and every year my boys always enjoyed their part in putting all the figures in their places for everyone's journeys to begin another year.
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Gail Sattler lives in Vancouver BC (Canada, eh!) where you don't have to shovel rain, with her husband, 3 sons, 2 dogs, and a lizard who is quite cuddly for a reptile. When she's not writing Gail Sattler plays acoustic bass for a community orchestra and electric bass for a local jazz band. When she's not writing or making music, Gail likes to sit back with a hot coffee and a good book.
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