Born in a Manger

I have the precious opportunity to spend my Sundays with a very special group of people. You see, I am the Nursery Coordinator for my church congregation-- which means for two hours every Sunday I get to sing, play, and learn from the children in the 18-36 month old Sunday School classes.

Today it was Abby's turn to teach me.

Over the past few weeks, I have been teaching the children a new song for the holidays-- "Christmas Bells are Ringing." The lyrics are pretty simple, and easily learned.

Christmas bells are ringing!
Hear what they say to you:
Jesus is born in Bethlehem;
In Bethlehem.

In helping the children review the words, I asked, "Where was Jesus born?"

Little Abby responded.

"In a manger!"
"Yes, that's right! But do you remember the name of the town? It's a pretty long word..."

(furrowed brow of concentration)

"Is it Bethlehem?" I prompted.
"Yes! Bethlehem!""Very good, Abby!" I exclaimed.

But she wasn't quite finished.

"Yes, at Bethlehem. And there was no room for Him. No room. For Joseph and Mary. But they could go to the manger. And Jesus was born in a manger. And that's Christmas! It's Jesus' birthday! The baby Jesus was born in the manger. And I love Christmas," she finished fervently.
"I love Christmas too-- it's a very special time of year, " I agreed. "Shall we sing our new Christmas song all together?"

The children nodded. With jingle bells in hand, we began to sing. And no one sang louder than Abby.

There is nothing like the faith of a child. ♥