Our Nativity Scene

Since we have lived in this home, I've always given the privilege of setting up the nativity scene to Josiah--and now this year, David was able to participate as well. That's one of the main advantages of having an all-wooden nativity; it's not breakable, and I can set it on a low bench and make it very kid-friendly. Our nativity set came from Bethlehem and is made out of olive wood. When my mother was visiting me in Israel when I was a student there in 1996, she and I went to Bethlehem together and she bought this set for me then.

~ this is Josiah, as a three year-old, setting up the nativity in 2005
~ Josiah in 2006, 4 years old, taking his job very seriously :)

Another interesting thing about the nativity set is that when I arrange it, I like to spread out the pieces, grouping the wise men together, the stable figures together, etc. And I also like to clip some greenery to put around the various characters, too (although in the picture below, I haven't gotten to that part yet!). So my arrangement usually looks something like this:

However, I've noticed that when the boys arrange the figures this year (and I let them arrange and re-arrange as much as they want), the characters all end up in a clump like this picture below. It strikes me that this arrangement is probably much more realistic than the way I portray it. In all honesty, I'm sure the various characters of the Biblical drama clustered around the infant Jesus, rather than standing far away. Of course, I know that the wise men didn't show up at the same time the shepherds did, so if we want to be real purists, we couldn't mix them. But my point is that once again, I've been reminded of something pure and fresh...from seeing through the eyes of my children, I realize how real and close and "in-your-face" (and Middle Eastern) the adoration of Jesus must have been, not the sterile "stand back and don't get too close" worship of our Western culture.