Celebrate and Worship

 

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me:

 for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:14

Children never cease to amaze me. The last week of school we celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas around the world. We compared the customs of other countries to the way we celebrate Christmas. We played dreidel games and used our five senses to enjoy the sweet smells and tastes of Christmas. 

On the last day, we traced and cut stars, adding streamers and handles for our parade. One of our teachers is from the Philippines, so we decided to do a Filipino parade, winding through the classroom singing and searching for the Christ child. I had placed our cradle and one of the baby boys from our home living center in a corner at the front of the classroom. Nothing had changed about the look of the baby or the cradle. 

The children knew that a Filipino parade was to symbolize the wise men looking for the Christ child. As the parade came to an end, the children began to squeal and kneel down. "The baby Jesus! The baby Jesus!" There had been no prompting for their exclamations. I understood then, the wonder and worship in a child's heart.

Thinking back about the things I observed this Christmas with the children I remember how they refused to visit Santa, how they cried just seeing a man dressed in red sitting on the stage. There was no thrill or wonder for these four-year-olds but when they traveled with their stars and came to a cradle manger there was wonder and amazement. There was joy. There was faith that the Christ child was given for us that first Christmas. 

Heavenly Father, may we all see Christmas with the eyes of a child this year, fresh eyes of faith and wonder, at the child who was given to save us from our sins. In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen