Luckily I had heard that we needed to dress warm. We all wore snow clothes, complete with hats, boots and gloves. I even wore my wool long johns under my jeans. We were so grateful that we were prepared for the cold.
You start out parking in a church parking lot and then standing in a line to wait to ride on hay in a horse trailer up to where the nativity was. Once we got there, we sort of expected to just sit and watch someone read the story from Luke Chapter 2, while some people acted out the nativity, but it was much more than that.
When we arrived, we were greeted by some shepherds who talked to us briefly about the story of the Savior's birth. There were barrels of fire for people to stand around to keep warm as we made our way to see the baby Jesus. I became choked up and touched from this point on. One of the shepherds explained to all of us what we would do. They then told us that the culminating event was to see the baby Jesus in the stable. They explained that the baby Jesus was a real baby, not a doll. He asked all of us why we thought it was important that baby Jesus was real. He looked at Aaron and in the sweetest voice Aaron said to him, "Because Jesus is weal." We made our way up the hill. On our way up we saw goats, sheep, shepherds, camels, a donkey, a Mary (with child in womb) and Joseph. We also saw a Roman Soldier on a horse. Each told their part of the Christmas story.
Inside the barn, they had set it up like a Bethlehem market street. We were greeted at the city gates by wise men. A carpenter and blacksmith were working on their trade, there were pottery makers, weavers, bakers, shepherds with their sheep, live camels for the kids to feed, and many sights and sounds from the time thousands of years ago when Jesus was born.
As we left the market place we followed the star to where the baby Jesus lay in the manger. I expected to hear music playing as we culminated the experience. There were carolers singing outside of the barn where the baby Jesus was, but as we entered the barn there was a silence and stillness. It was a stark contrast from what we heard inside the market with people bustling about. As we entered the barn, Aaron held my hand, looked up and said, "Mom do I get to see Jesus?" The way he said it was filled with such a great desire to be able to see the Savior. It was so tender. I explained to him and reminded him that Jesus is real, that he is living, and that he is an adult now, but that this was a baby that they were pretending was Jesus. There was such a powerful spirit as we entered the barn to find Mary and Joseph looking down and adoring their newborn babe. They baby was sweet and pure and happy. We kneeled around and peeked at the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in the manger. I couldn't believe the silence. Even my two very rowdy and lively boys were still. We were all very touched. At first when we left, I thought that would have been nice to have music playing at the manger scene. Then I thought about that night so long ago and the silence, stillness and peace there must have been that night and I realized that the silence was most appropriate.
We felt such a powerful spirit that night. We hope to carry on this tradition with our family. It was a great way to learn about and reflect on the birth of our Savior.
1 comment:
that sounds awesome, i would love to do some thing like that. if we ever make it back there, we will have to hook up and go together.
Post a Comment