This was sent to me by a friend on Christmas Eve...I thought it was wonderful and wanted to pass it on to all of you.
THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT
My husband and I had been happily married (most of the time)
for five yearsbut hadn't been blessed with a baby.
I decided to do some serious
praying and promised God
that if he would give us a child,
I would be a perfect mother,l
ove it with all my heartand raise it with His word as my guide.
God answered my prayers
and blessed us with a son.
The next year God blessed us with another son.
The following year,
He blessed us withyet another son.
The year after that wewere blessed with a daughter.
My husband thought we'd
been blessed right into poverty.
We now had four children,and the oldest was only
four years old.
I learned never to ask God for anything unless I meant it
As a minister once told me,
"If you pray for rain,make sure you carry an umbrella."
I began reading a few verses
of the Bible to the children
each day as they lay in their cribs.
I was off to a good start.
God had entrusted mewith four children and
I didn't want to disappoint Him.
I tried to be patient the day
the children smashed
two dozen eggs on
the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.
I tried to be understanding...
when they started a hotel for
homeless frogs in the spare bedroom,
although it took me nearly two hours
to catch all twenty-three frogs.
When my daughter poured
ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a blanket to see
how it felt to be a hot dog,
I tried to see the humorrather than the mess.
In spite of changing over
twenty-five thousand diapers,
never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more
than thirty minutes at a time,
I still thank God daily for my children.
While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother -
I didn't even come close...
I did keep my promise
to raise them in the Word of God.
I knew I was missing the mark
just a little when I told
my daughter we were going to church to worship God,
and she wanted to bring
a bar of soap along to
"wash up" Jesus, too.
Something was lost
in the translation when
I explained thatGod gave us everlasting life,
and my son thought it was
generous of God to give
us his "last wife."
My proudest moment came
during the children's
Christmas pageant.
My daughter was playing Mary,
two of my sons were shepherds
and my youngest son was a wise man.
This was their moment to shine.
My five-year-old shepherd
had practiced his line,
"We found the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes."
But he was nervous and said,
"The baby was wrappedin wrinkled clothes."
My four-year-old "Mary" said
,"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly..
That's dirty, rotten clothes.
"A wrestling match broke out
between Mary and the shepherd
and was stopped by an angel,
who bent her halo and lost her left wing.
I slouched a little lower
in my seat when Mary
dropped the doll representingBaby Jesus,
and it bounceddown the aisle crying,
"Mama-mama."
Mary grabbed the doll,
wrapped it back up
and held it tightly as
the wise men arrived.
My other son stepped forward
wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown,
knelt at the manger and announced,
"We are the three wise men,
and we are bringing gifts
of gold,
common sense and
fur.
"The congregation
dissolved into laughter,and the pageant
got a standing ovation.
"I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as this one,"
laughed the pastor,
wiping tears from his eyes
"For the rest of my life,
I'll never hear theChristmas story without
thinking of gold, common sense and fur."
"My children are my pride and my joy
and my greatest
blessing," I said as I dug
through my purse for an aspirin.
Jesus had no servants,
yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree,
yet they called Him Teacher .
Had no medicines,
yet they called Him Healer.
Had no army,
yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles,
yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime,
yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb,
yet He lives today.
Feel honored
to serve such a Leader
who loves us
If you believe in
God and in Jesus Christ His Son,
send this to all on your buddy list. or
post this on your blog!
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!
