A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
I began collecting nativity scenes before the birth of our first child, Catherine. Beekeeper Brian was selling pens at craft fair booth and traded a pen for a wooden nativity set. We thought it would be something our child could safely enjoy. I also made a cloth set which has since gone to live with Catherine.
Our collection includes a plaster of Paris piece which I painted at a vacation Bible School when I was in elementary school and another clay set Matthew made in junior high.
The one I brought back from our time in Mexico is painted tin and very light weight. As such, it tends to fall over and last year I didn’t set it out. This year I hadn’t made a decision about it but the grandmother of a piano student from Mexico saw it and lovingly bent each piece so it would stand upright.
And they are still standing.
Each time I walk past the coffee table, I remember her kneeling and arranging each piece of the nativity. It is amazing to think that the birth of a child so many years ago still has an impact on people today.
That is a wonderful tradition! I hope you have a blessed Christmas.
In our home, we set up the crèche without the Christ child. On Christmas morning, we light the candle in the center of the advent wreath and the youngest child present places the baby in the manger.
My son and his family make new traditions and wonderful new memories, but I know he keeps in his heart the reason we celebrate this holiest of days.