Christmas—God is Love

We enjoyed our Christmas celebration on the 21^st. We had invited at least 6 new families, but only one came. Chi Ming has been one of my therapy patients for many years. He is still wheelchair-bound, and lost his eyesight about a year ago, but he is very talkative and sociable so enjoyed himself in spite of not being able to participate fully in all the activities. We did cast him in the role of Joseph for the Christmas story. So instead of the typical Joseph-leads-the-donkey-on-which-Mary-sits, we ended up with Mary pushing Joseph to Bethlehem in his wheelchair! It worked fine! Here's the story:

Many years ago there was a man named Joseph	introduce boy as Joseph
He was engaged to a girl named Mary	introduce girl as Mary
One day, Joseph's neighbor came to him and said, "Psst—did you hear—Mary is pregnant!"	boy comes to Joseph & whispers in his ear, then leaves
Joseph was very sad. He thought Mary loved him! He decided to break their engagement.	Joseph cries. Goes to bed (towel & pillow on floor)
But that night and angel appeared to him and said, "Don't be afraid to marry her. She has not been unfaithful to you. But the Holy Spirit has come to her, and her baby will be the Son of God, the Savior the whole world has been waiting for."	Angel with halo
Strange, but not as strange as believing that Mary had done something wrong. So, they got married.	Joseph with bow tie, Mary in TP veil.
Not long after that, Joseph had to go to Bethlehem for a census. He took Mary with him. She was already very big!	Mary with pillow padding. J & M walk around room.
When they got to Bethlehem, they tried to get a room at an inn, but it was already full.	boy standing behind table in corner; J knocks, boy says no room (puts up sign)
Mary said, "We'd better find somewhere quick! I'm about to have the baby! So they went into the only shelter they could find: a stable	second table with pictures of horses & a cow. Box with straw. They spread a towel on floor.
Pretty soon, she had her baby, Jesus. No crib, no pillow; she had to put him in the feed box.	Mary goes behind table, comes out with baby doll instead of padding.
all sing: Away in a Manger
That night, outside of the city, some shepherds were guarding their sheep.	2-3 boys with towels on heads. Sheep picture.
All of a sudden they heard a noise. They were scared—was it a wolf coming to eat the sheep? No—it was—angels!	Look scared. 2-3 angel with halos
all sing: Hark the Herald Angels Sing
One of the angels explains that the Savior has been born. That they would recognize him because he was lying in a feed box	Angels point the way & then leave
The shepherds discuss it among themselves and decide they better go and see.	shepherds huddle
all sing: O Come all Ye Faithful
So they go and see, and sure enough, there he is. So they knew what the angel was saying was true, and they knelt down and worshipped the baby Jesus	Shepherds kneel down.
Everyone was happy because they had waited for many years for this day. Now they knew that God really loved them, because He had sent Jesus to save them.	Shepherds, M & J, and angels all high-five
all sing: Joy to the World

Someone as important as Jesus shouldn't have been relegated to a stable, right? He should have been welcomed with a red carpet! So for our game we did a "red carpet walk" – the kids had to keep their feet on the floor so that the two squares of red "carpet" (paper) could stay with them all the way across the room. For Chi Ming, we did a variation in which each square had to be picked up from behind him and placed in front of him so he could travel on red carpet the whole way. It was neat to watch the kids wanting to help make it happen—one child pushing the chair, one child helping rotate the carpet squares.
Our craft consisted of pasting figures from a crèche scene to match a pattern scene—everyone did it extremely well; I didn't watch to see who did it themselves and who needed parents' help though.Bible study was John 3:16-17. Afterward we had a potluck.
I was very pleased with how well our three shepherd boys cooperated in wearing their headdresses!