Living the Greatest Story Ever Told

Christmas is always a curious amalgam of the present, memory, and promise. The season is seldom experienced in any less than two or three layers of reality. This was brought home to me poignantly, yesterday evening, when Rebekah asked me to scan a couple of older photographs for a project she is working on.

That's Andrew and Naomi, shortly after we moved into our Piedmont Road house in Pensacola. I've shared before how we have always made the story of the Nativity as accessible as possible.

If it's the first Christmas in that house, then the children are five and three; it's the year after the "Case of the missing Magi" adventure. Our time-honored ritual involved placing the figures, one at a time.... "That's my second sheep in a row, I want a camel..." "He got to do the baby Jesus last year..." "Your camel's too close to my shepherd..." "Don't you think Jesus should have his own puppy?"...

Pictures like this one take us right back, in an instant. It's one reason it's so important to share and re-tell our stories, and to always remember. The story of Jesus is known as "The Greatest Story Ever Told" - but it's a story that becomes more meaningful with the living, and by understanding how our personal and family stories fit in...

Five minutes ago I talked with both children. Andrew was at the airport in Connecticut, waiting to come home this afternoon. Naomi was slip-sliding down her ice-covered driveway, heading out to work. Both of them still see the Nativity as interactive; both of them love Jesus; both of them live out their lives as a great adventure; both of them have key roles to play in the on-going story.

More to come - stay tuned - DEREK