They Followed That Star

Our last church was an ornate, gothic old church whose congregation had been around for over 150 years.  The building itself was over 100 years old and I used to love exploring the nooks and crannies.  I always found some amazing things.  There was an old pump organ, lovely antiques and I even once found a Life magazine from WWII.  The church took great pride in its history.

I loved helping to decorate that church.  We actually started out as just members of that church back in the 90's.  That is where Hubby received his call and we were eventually sent back as the pastoral family.  But in the 90's I was just Muddy to them and young enough to climb a rickety ladder balanced in the choir loft up 20 feet all the while dangling a heavy 4 foot wreath from a pole used to hang it on the pipes from a giant pipe organ.

The church also had a 12 foot Christmas tree.  Every year someone from the church would very carefully unwrap a 75 year old ceramic figuring nativity and place it under the tree.  In 1997 I was recovering from a horrible car crash and couldn't climb the ladder so I was given the job of setting up the nativity.  The problem was I had a broken thumb (from refusing to let go of the steering wheel ) and so I had a cast on my arm.  I was trying to be careful as I unwrapped the shepherds, the baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph.  But when I got to the wise men, something happened.  I sort of lost my grip as I was taking the paper off and a wise man went tumbling.  It seemed to happen in slow motion.  Down, down, down he fell.  His head hit the floor and went rolling away.  I reached out to try to grab it, forgetting that I didn't have the use of my thumb.  That was when I learned how important an opposable thumb really was.  The head hit the giant air-return grate located on the floor and was lost forever.  I would forever more be the person who not only broke the nativity, but lost the wise man's head.

So you can imagine how I feel every Christmas when gifts from the congregants start arriving.  Inevitably a congregant will give us a Bible or a nativity for Christmas, because of course my Hubby, being a pastor, would not have enough of these two items.  I appreciate that it is the thought that counts, but I have more nativities than rooms in my house.  I have 3 or 4 ceramic nativities, two wooden ones, 1 glass nativity and one with candles.  And now I have a giant wooden pillar nativity.  One for every Bible.  So I guess the lesson is, if you are thinking about getting your pastor a nativity, wait.  Chances are he or she is good in that department.