Confessions of a 44-year-old Christmas Angel
Alberta Gordon
December 206
Last fall I received an email from FamilyLife about a new Christmas resource for children. Although I don't have kids of my own (my husband and I are pictured to the left), I do have nephews and a niece and am involved in the children's ministries at church. That's why I ordered What God Wants for Christmas, described as an interactive nativity set.
As soon as it arrived, I read through the story, opened every little box, and assembled the pop-up nativity scene. I thought, "What a great idea!" The story was interactive, could be used for different ages, and it had a great punch line.
I brought the set along to our family's Thanksgiving feast and read through it with my nephews and niece. None of them are noted for having long attention spans, but they listened and lovingly put the little figures in place in the pop-up nativity set. When I saw their reactions, I began to think about other kids who might enjoy this new retelling of the old, old story.
I gave What God Wants for Christmas to the girls' club director of my church, Julie Youngblood. I thought that she might be able to either use it with the Kid Power group (for neighborhood and church kids), or work it into the annual Wednesday night Christmas program.
Never did I imagine that she would ask me to be Gabriel in a large-scale reenactment of What God Wants for Christmas! But instead of "No way!" I surprised even myself when I answered, "Can I think about it?"
When I told my husband, Pete, how Julie had asked me to be Gabriel, he assured me that I could do it. He said that the audience for the program would be a forgiving crowd. So I decided to do it.
Our church, Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church, is in a semi-transient neighborhood. For years we've had the basic "bathrobe nativity," and whoever showed up got to be in it. But last December was different. As the families enjoyed our church's December feast, children were recruited for parts in the program. Kids begged to be Joseph or Mary.
After a wonderful meal, about 175 people came into the sanctuary to sing a few Christmas carols and see a mostly unrehearsed presentation of What God Wants for Christmas. There were about 80 kids, and more than half of them were from the culturally diverse neighborhood. For many of them, we are their only church. Some don't even know where they will be living next week.
As the crowd poured in, the actors all waited patiently in their bathrobe- and towel-costumes. About a dozen children surrounded Julie, who sat by a Christmas tree. Seven large packages were in front of the tree—each was wrapped in Christmas paper and marked with a number between 1 and 7.
Julie began the program by saying something like, "Look at all of these gifts! We're going to be opening a lot of presents for Christmas. Let's see what's in Gift Number One."
A couple of children spontaneously ran to Gift Number One and removed its wrapped lid. Nestled inside of it was FamilyLife's Box Number One to What God Wants for Christmas. The children pulled the small box out of the larger one, walked to a microphone, and announced its contents.
When they discovered an angel in Box Number One, that's when my part began. I said:
"In the beginning, God started to plan,
To bring about Christmas, and it would be grand …"
And a translator, Kori, repeated this in Spanish.
Junior-high students read the suggested Scriptures, and then Julie pointed to Gift Number Two and asked, "Can you help me with this present?"
Kori and I continued reading the poem from What God Wants for Christmas as Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus (a doll), shepherds, and wise men came from the back of the church (as their part was read), down the center aisle, into the straw-filled stable. I was amazed as I read—loudly, clearly, and even with some animation. God had every little detail in His hand, and everything continued smoothly until the program's end.
As Gift Number Seven was opened and a mirror pulled out, I read:
"… What God wants is you—the one He created!"
A little girl walked up and down the aisles carrying a large rectangular mirror. It was about as tall as she was—big enough so everyone could look into it.
At the conclusion of the program, Pastor Reggie's message was a wrap-up of the story and an invitation to pray. I don't remember his exact words. He said something like, "That's the heart of the gospel—God wants us for Christmas."
Looking back, I wasn't nervous as Gabriel. That's so unlike me. I get nervous saying prayer requests at church. I was able to say all of my lines and feel like it was because of God. I know it was.
What God Wants for Christmas has such a simple message. People just get it: "God wants you."
Wow! And He wants me. |
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