This holiday season. In the midst of the busyness, I want to point my heart in the right direction. In the midst of spending, and wrapping, and Christmas program practicing, I want my heart to be pointed at this simple Nativity.
I purchased this Nativity (whose stable is a hollowed out coconut shell) from a street merchant in Haiti. I went there to volunteer in 2010 about a month after the earthquake. Whenever I pull this Nativity out, I am reminded of how much my life has changed since 2010. Before Haiti, I was just a mom trying to hold on. I was just a young mom who had no idea what God was doing in her life. After Haiti, I began to feel a pull on my life. Like I was missing something or Someone.
Haiti and that following year really changed my life. God planted a love for the nations and a love for orphans in my heart. Haiti was the first time I had come in contact with true orphans and the first time I had seen devastation and desperation on that level. It changed me. I came home different.
This Nativity reminds me of that sweet time in my life. I love it because the characters are so crude and the stable is so simple. I think that's how the true Nativity characters were. Not some finely crafted people like those finely crafted pieces of porcelain or stone. They were simple people, like you and me.
Joseph- a man who defied tradition to marry a pregnant virgin.
Mary- a teenager who had never been intimate with a man but had been touched by God.
They had no clue that night what was about to happen in their lives. God was up to something. He was on the move. And it was about to change the face of the whole world. And it started with them.
This holiday season, I want it to start with me.
Do you have a favorite Nativity scene? Would you share it and the story that goes along with it? You can link up using the linky tool below or you can share it on Instagram with #nativityshowandtell.
Wow! What an amazing story behind this nativity set. I can see why such strong emotions are evoked when you get it out. That's definitely a life-changing experience!
ReplyDelete