It’s All In The Details

Since there is a Women’s Ministry event at my church, I decided to re-post a Whisper that was first published on December 9, 2016. Be blessed.

 

There is a book on our shelf that was a favorite to read.
I still laugh at some of the dialog.
I know the story inside out.
The book was made into a movie; the movie is equally funny.

It is the story of the Herdmans, a group of children who seem to raise themselves.
Their father left the family years before and the mother does the best she can.
The mother works at a shoe factory and consequently, the children are frequently alone.
Everyone in school is afraid of the Herdmans since they bully to get what they want.

They steal lunches, or at least they steal the sweet snacks out of lunches.
They punch and threaten to get their way.
They are incorrigible.
Everyone stays away from them.

The director of the church Christmas pageant fell and broke her leg.
In the hospital, with her leg in traction, it is impossible for her to direct the pageant.
The assignment goes to a woman named Grace Bradley.
Grace and her husband, Bob, are the parents of two children, Charlie and Beth.

After one of the Herdmans steals Charlie’s snack, Charlie tells him that it is okay.
I can get all the snacks I want in Sunday school, he says.
The Herdman’s come to Sunday school the same day the actors are being decided.
After coercion and outright threats, the Herdmans get all the major parts in the play.

There is only one problem: the Herdmans never heard the Christmas story.
They have no idea who Luke is, though the other children know he is the writer of the Gospel.
Grace decides to read the Christmas story to the entire Sunday school class.
She reads the story to all the children but mostly for the benefit of the Herdmans.

I still laugh at the telling of the Christmas story through the eyes of a child.
Details that we read over without even thinking about are stumbling blocks to children.
We assume that they know the story as much as we do.
We forget that to a child’s ears, the details do not always make sense.

Barbara Robinson, who wrote, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, understood.
She knew what the Christmas story would sound like to a child who never heard it before.
The Herdmans tried to understand the words simply by the way they sounded.
The words had no meaning until Grace Bradley explained what the story really said.

I know this all too well from my own experience.
As a new mom, teaching my oldest daughter the Christmas story was a delight.
She loved hearing all about Baby Jesus.
She enjoyed hearing about the shepherds and the wise men.

Once when we were visiting, she wanted to tell the story in front of other people.
She was quite young and her simple explanation was precious.
When she got to the Wise Men, she talked about the gifts they brought to Baby Jesus.
And what did the Wise Men bring? Our host asked.

With her chest puffed out in pride, she answered.
Gold, diapers, and wipes, to the delight of everyone in the room.
Everyone laughed and I scooped her up in my arms.
That’s so cute; she got the gold part right, someone said.

She got the gold part right, indeed.
As a preschooler, her answers were appropriate.
I made sure to read the Christmas story the next day so she could hear those gifts again.
I know her answer was precious to God as well.

Through the eyes of a child, diapers and wipes would be appropriate gifts for baby Jesus.
We tend to make the Christmas story unreachable.
We tend to leave the story in lofty places without helping a child see that Jesus was a real baby.
We must see Jesus as a real baby or the Christmas story is unrecognizable.

Jesus needed to be nursed, and burped, and changed, and rocked to sleep.
The Creator of the universe was totally helpless in His mother’s arms.
The Son of God was dependent on a teenage girl for His food.
The mother who bore Him was created by the Child she bore.

Imagine.

We know the details of the Christmas story but do we really think about them?
Can we imagine the sky filled with angels?
Can we smell the dirty stall filled with animals?
Can we hear the groans of the young girl delivering her first child?

Can we see Joseph standing nervously by her trying to help her in any way he can?
Can we hear the first cry of the tiny infant as He entered the world?
Can we see the young mother put the baby to her breast?
Can we hear the nursing sounds of the helpless baby who is our Lord?

If we do not see the realness of the Christmas story then we miss it.
We sanitize it.
We keep it safe, and proper, and distant.
Maybe children understand the simplicity of the story better than we do.

Go over the details.
Imagine that night with your children: the sights, the sounds, and the smells.
It actually happened and all the characters of the story are real.
They are incredibly real.

You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)

2 responses to “It’s All In The Details”

1. Beautiful song; never heard this before. Barbara Robinson was actually a guest in my home many years ago! It was a National League of American Pen Women meeting and she was the guest speaker, talking about the many venues her story had taken: book, play, and movie. All were different and had their own challenges. I think she was a NLAPW member (not sure) and I don’t remember how we got her, but it was a great meeting!

   Reply

   • Sue,
     How exciting to think that you met and listened to Barbara Robinson. What a treasure she gave us in her book, THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER. I am glad you enjoyed the song, Labor of Love. Andrew Peterson tells the Story in his song so perfectly.
     Gina

     Reply