Only Jesus

I originally wrote this several years ago, when L was a preschooler & J was a toddler.  Since Christmas is just around the corner & a few friends wanted to read the story again, I thought I'd share it on the ol' blog.  Enjoy!

We have three nativity scenes. One is the "nice" one, and it's on display behind glass doors. It's part of the Willow Tree collection...breathtakingly beautiful and simple. There are also two other nativity scenes that are for the kids. My boys adore them.

Several times a day, they can be found playing with the little figures. The Wise Men visit Baby Jesus often, and they take turns riding on the camel. Mary and Joseph make numerous trips to the stable. However, my children have turned this holy and beautiful, Norman Rockwell scene into a smack down over who gets which Baby Jesus. That's right.

You might be saying to yourself, "But, I thought there were TWO nativity scenes. Aren't there TWO Baby Jesus'?" You would be correct in assuming so. However, what you don't know is that one is a wooden cut out of Baby Jesus, and the other is a squishy, plastic version...most likely ordered from Oriental Trading Company. The squishy, plastic version is the coveted Jesus (should those words even been in the same sentence?).

NOT the favorite.

 

The favorite.



While decorating the Christmas tree, Levi was CLUTCHING the "favorite" Jesus while trying to hang ornaments. You see, he most certainly did not want his little brother to get his chubby, little hands on such a prize. It all just wasn't working. Either ornaments or Jesus would inevitably fall to the ground. With greed and selfishness abounding I suddenly heard myself saying (with a firm tone...okay, almost yell), "Put Jesus down and focus on decorating the Christmas tree!" Not my proudest moment. In fact, I could hear the string of pearls promptly break and fall to the ground, as the June Cleaver in me politely excused herself back to 1953. Her freshly pressed dress swished and her high heels daintily clicked their way out the door. All that remained was a sad version of me...in sweatpants. *sigh*

By the end of this week, playing "Nativity" improved, as did our attitudes. Today, Levi took Jesus with him to preschool...in his heart and in his backpack. It's show and tell day! The letter of the week was J, and the theme was Christmas, so sharing baby Jesus with the others seemed like a perfect fit. In a much kinder/softer tone than the Christmas tree experience, I actually found myself saying, "Okay, Sweetie...go find Jesus and put him in your backpack." It just rolled off my tongue, and it sounded so strange I had to laugh.

My heart friend, Jade, came to pick up Levi for school. With excitement just bursting out of him, Levi told her, "I'm taking Baby Jesus to school with me, for show and tell...He's in my backpack!" (two moms were then found laughing) Jade explained that her oldest daughter was taking the same item...er, "person," for show and tell. So, Jade left with a van load of happy kids...and TWO Baby Jesus'.

Thankfully, there is plenty of the one, true Jesus to go around, and He really is worth sharing with others. I'm so grateful that He's always there with love, forgiveness, and grace.