December 8th
My first memories of Christmas are very vague but I still remember being the "littlest angel" in the Christmas services here at Stevensville UMC. This was either the Christmas of 1954 or 1955.
I was brought into the fellowship hall to get into my angel outfit with 3 or 4 older girls who were also angels. We wore long white robes, wings with what looked like real feathers (they were actually crepe paper), and we had haloes! And when we glided into the sanctuary and up to the front of the church to kneel at the manger, we had to hold our hands up by our shoulders to indicate we were flying.
At the ripe old age of 3 I knew about flying and we weren't! My feet never left the floor! I also remember the heat of the spotlights that were used to illuminate the manger scene, it was night and the sanctuary lights were off except for those spotlights. It was truly magical.
Of all the memories of Christmas over the years, the memories of those childhood Christmas programs are nearest to my heart. The music was beautiful and we saw the Christmas story enacted as well as hearing the story. What a fascinating story for children to hear of a baby being born in a stable, sleeping in a manger, and being visited by angels, shepherds, and kings! How lucky we were to receive the blessing that this baby Jesus became!
At this season, let us remember this story, hold it close in our hearts, and rejoice again in the celebration of his birth. Let’s leave behind the trappings of the commercial side of Christmas, and remember this precious gift that was given to us those many years ago.
Linda K. Kauffman
My first memories of Christmas are very vague but I still remember being the "littlest angel" in the Christmas services here at Stevensville UMC. This was either the Christmas of 1954 or 1955.
I was brought into the fellowship hall to get into my angel outfit with 3 or 4 older girls who were also angels. We wore long white robes, wings with what looked like real feathers (they were actually crepe paper), and we had haloes! And when we glided into the sanctuary and up to the front of the church to kneel at the manger, we had to hold our hands up by our shoulders to indicate we were flying.
At the ripe old age of 3 I knew about flying and we weren't! My feet never left the floor! I also remember the heat of the spotlights that were used to illuminate the manger scene, it was night and the sanctuary lights were off except for those spotlights. It was truly magical.
Of all the memories of Christmas over the years, the memories of those childhood Christmas programs are nearest to my heart. The music was beautiful and we saw the Christmas story enacted as well as hearing the story. What a fascinating story for children to hear of a baby being born in a stable, sleeping in a manger, and being visited by angels, shepherds, and kings! How lucky we were to receive the blessing that this baby Jesus became!
At this season, let us remember this story, hold it close in our hearts, and rejoice again in the celebration of his birth. Let’s leave behind the trappings of the commercial side of Christmas, and remember this precious gift that was given to us those many years ago.
Linda K. Kauffman
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