When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
_{Matthew 2:10-11 NLT}

It’s Saturday and I’m blessed to be hanging out with children during our final practice for the play they will share in worship. Like most Christmas plays, children dress up and act out the story of Jesus’ birth. As the narrators tell the story, our elementary-aged Mary and Joseph head to the manger. All is going well except Mary forgot the baby Jesus.

“Mary. Where have you put the baby Jesus?” I ask.

She runs to the pew and grabs him up as I laughingly say, “Have you lost our Lord and Savior? Oh my, how did we forget the Messiah?”

Fast forward to Sunday morning. All the children are dressed up like shepherds and kings. The youngest three are angels complete with white robes, feathery wings, and halos. Let me just say they are melt-your-heart cute. When it is their turn to go up and sing, the littlest angel marches right to the manger and swipes baby Jesus. She carries him around with her for the rest of the time. Wherever she goes, baby Jesus goes too. (Don’t worry. This was not a real baby.)

This might be the sweetest lesson I’ve had in a while. Because the season of Advent is crazy busy, if I’m not careful, I too can leave Jesus behind as I rush off to do the next thing. I’m prone to feel relieved when Christmas is over, and life returns to its normal rhythm. I don’t want it to be this way, but it’s so easy to get caught up in the “hustle and bustle”.

What a precious gift the littlest angel gave me.

A reminder to draw near to the manger
pick up the Savior
and never let go.