Christmas for the young and young-at-heart.

As I walked into one of my Christmas Eve Candlelight Services, I noticed at least a dozen or so children in the congregation. Some faces were familiar; some were visitors - new or repeat. As I went into my office to put on my alb and prepare my notes, I thought of a Kids’ Christmas Message that I had seen, and thought “why not – these kids are gotta lose it after the third ‘angelic’ and fifth ‘manger’.” And the direction of the Christmas Eve Message was about Jesus being born in a world of Have-Nots, so I’m guess that visions of sugarplums, reindeer, and mountains of wrapping paper would be more interesting to these kids. Can’t blame them – at that age, my mind was on bikes, transistor radios, and Viewmasters.

 

Anyhow… I started the Service and gave some introductory instructions (what to expect, where to find the restrooms, if anyone needs help, etc), and just as I was wrapping up, a little girl stands up on a pew towards the back and shouts for my attention.

Well, who am I to ignore a child in church?

So I said “Hi”, to which I got a “Hi” in return.

“Do you want to sing a song?” I then asked.

“Yeah!” was the quick response.
Well, then a song it was – so we proceeded with the Opening Hymn. After all, she wanted to sing, and who am I to ignore a child in church?

When I took the opportunity to give the Kids’ Message, the same little girl was very attentive. By that, I mean that if I asked a question that got a loud response, she would come up to me to answer. Or show-off her cute outfit. Or just show-off how cute she was.

Hard to say because by this point, she scored in all areas.

Then came the end of Kids’ Time… The point when the preacher prays with the kids and they go sit down with their parents, or one would think.
Nope, not when Miss Cutie isn’t done taking center stage. She wasn’t ready to go. She wanted to stay up front. Even when her cousin tried to walk her back with no luck, choosing to shout down the aisle “she won’t come!”… what’s a pastor to do?

I walked up to her and tried to sweet-talk her with the thoughts of singing again. After all, we were getting ready to sing another hymn.

Well, that worked! Yep, she’ll get up off the floor for another song. Yep, right back to the chancel steps.

Well why not! I offered her an opportunity, and Miss Cutie took it. So I went over and set down on the step next to her, asked the congregation to turn to the next hymn, and we started singing, and I looked down at Miss Cutie and she’s looking up at me as I’m serenading her with “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. Only after I could convince her that her aunt is a much better singer did Miss Cutie give up the sounds of choking cats to the sweeter tunes of her family’s vocals. 

 

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The point is that Christmas isn’t about the hype and glamour.

It’s about the simple and humble. It’s about the little ones – the young and young at heart. It’s about seeing things through the eyes of a child. It’s about not being so serious about the simple things in life.

 

Little Miss Cutie was having a good time at the Christmas Eve Service, and so was everyone else. We all enjoyed her laughter, her smiles, and her conversations with me. The only regret of the evening was that no one had their cameras or smart-phones handy.

Any other time, we’d have dozens of pictures floating on social media before the end of the Service.

Let’s look at life with a youthful heart, along with the laughter, smiles, and giggles it brings -- not just at Christmastime, but all year long.

MERRY Christmas!!