Last night was the children's Christmas play at church. I looked forward eagerly to their presentation, and I was rewarded with a captivating, hilarious and earnest tableau from the innocents. How heart-warming and guileless they were as they wriggled, pushed away charming, too-long bangs from eyes, twisted a dress, or tugged on a T-shirt bearing the manger scene created by their director, our granddaughter Michaela.
Their sweet voices filled the air as they sang traditional Christmas melodies, all the while doing the motions, being with a jingling bell, raised hands, or other practiced movements, keeping their adoring audience of parents, grand-parents and friends enthralled. Songs were interspersed with readings of the Christmas story, by "Grandpa" (the church pastor), and scriptures from a precocious young reader.
Refreshments with finger foods brought by church ladies followed the program, extending the delightful evening with warm chatter and visiting in a full dining area. As we were preparing to leave, an elderly lady approached us with a Christmas-y box full of homemade treats and goodies.
"I just wanted to give you this," she said to my husband with a tremulous smile, "because I enjoyed your sermon so much last Sunday!"
What a sweet gesture! Howard had preached a week ago and had received many words of appreciation from the kind church folks!
After church earlier that day, our granddaughter Bethany called and set up a lunch meeting for us and her kids who attend another church. We enjoyed it so much, as we are still unfamiliar with so much of the area here. After a satisfying, tasty meal when we were making preparations to leave, diners from an adjacent booth stopped and remarked about the children.
"They are so precious!" the elderly ladies exclaimed, wanting to know their ages and admiring them. Bethany's boys are three and seven, while a little visiting cousin is also three.
"I never had any children," one of the quite-old ladies said. Seeing this row of little boys had caught her attention and the wonder of little ones.
Two more days until Christmas actually arrives, but the warmth and anticipation in the air is palpable as we celebrate the most important event in history, the birth of Jesus!
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