"Hey, God dwelled among us!"

As a Librarian, I have become familiar with the children's book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. If you are not familiar with the story, I highly recommend that you run out to your local library and grab it. It's a wonderful Christmas read that will keep you laughing all the way through and then it grabs hold of your heartstrings in the final chapter.

To sort of catch you up to speed with the book without spoiling it, a group of totally mischievous, bad to the core kids, a.k.a. "The Herdmans" show up at the local church and end up comprising all of the major cast of the annual Christmas Pageant. The book details the misadventures the church faces at the hands of the Herdmans and the makings of what is supposed to be a beautiful re-telling of the Christmas story.

Turns out at the end of the book, this Christmas Pageant was exactly what the Herdmans needed....for the first time ever they got what Christmas is really all about. The final line of the book explains it all: "Hey, unto YOU a child is born!" It signifies that they really did get...for ALL of us, even the lying, cursing, yelling, mischievous, down right mean Herdmans, a child was born.

I tell you this because we have our own little set of Herdmans at our church. Six of them. They really are wonderful children, but they are totally mischievous. These guys (and girls) really keep me on my toes...bringing lizards to Sunday School via their shirt pocket, seeing who can steal the most cookies from the Fellowship Hall before I find them, betting on who can fit the most bathroom breaks into the sermon, calling each other names, hosting yelling contests, etc. I'm sure there will be many more posts on our version of the Herdman family.

For all their faults, these kids are soaking up all of the Jesus stuff that I can throw at them. I gave them all brand new Bibles and, not expecting much, I asked them to read the Book of John. Well, they did read the Book of John. Not only did they read it, but for the first time ever, just like the Herdmans, they got it. When they popped onto my van Sunday morning, they were bubbling over with excitement. I asked how things were going and immediately one of the girls shouted at me, "Hey! Did you know that Jesus became flesh and dwelled among us?!?!?" I asked her if she knew what that meant and she said, "Yup. It means that Jesus gave up Heaven just to live here and on Earth and be just like us."

Yes, that's exactly what it means. Isn't it awesome how God works...even through a second grader?

Unto ALL of us a child was born. Thank you, God, for sending your Son....not just for the wealthy, the elite, the grown-ups, the people with their acts together....but for ALL of us.

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Jesus - The Ultimate Kid Magnet

We went to a Candlelight Christmas Eve Service in a neighboring (much larger) town tonight. I have been in anything but a Christmas mood and I knew I needed some serious intervention if I was to cease being a Scrooge.

It's not my fault really. The kids at school and church have been nuts and I have been at my wits end trying to maintain some semblance of order in my classrooms. I have focused so much on the repetitive "going through the motions" Christmas stuff....making sure kids did not cause blood to leak out of another child, allowing no name calling that would cause a serious self-esteem issue to follow them throughout life, and, of course, ensuring that the quota of Christmas crafts had been met.

In all of my focus, it seems that Christmas just popped up without any warning this year and my mood was anything but festive. I am so glad that I attended the Christmas Eve Service. It's not that I forgot that Jesus is the star of this show. It's that I forgot to remember Him and the sacrifice He made on my behalf and the behalf of all mankind. I love a line that the pastor used in his opening prayer: "At Christmas we celebrate Jesus - who became something He was not without ever ceasing to be who He is." Wow. That really brought it home for me.

As you celebrate your freedoms, your families, your friends, and your fancies, please remember that the only superstar worthy of celebrating showed up in a Bethlehem manger some 2000 years ago with no freedoms, little family, few friends, and no fancies. He gave up a glorious crown in Heaven for a crown of thorns. He sacrificed fellowship with God Himself to hang out with a bunch of tax collectors and prostitutes. And He did it ...not to be the star of the show...but rather to allow us to be a friend of God. Jesus is the ultimate "Kid Magnet"...desiring only to bring His kids closer to God by drawing us closer to Himself. "Greater love has no man than this...."

Thank you, Jesus, for becoming something You were not without ever ceasing to be who You are.

Merry Christmas!

Kid Magnet Superstar

Yesterday, I headed off to my local Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute Christmas items. (Actually, everything Christmas that I purchased this year was last minute. Kid magnets have zero self-maintenance time.) In an effort to multi-task, I took my nieces with me on this little journey to bond and shop. As we passed an aisle my youngest niece informed me that two of my kids from school were pointing and saying, "Look! There's Miss Kid Magnet! Did you know she shops at Wal-Mart?" To which my niece added that I must be a superstar....for a child to really think that I was too good to shop at Wal-Mart during daylight hours.

Celebrities have their paparazzi. I have my kindergartners. I wouldn't trade this Kid Magnet business for anything in the world.