A Lesson for Advent

This weekend we surprised Kathleen and Madeline with a special advent gift -- a Playmobile nativity set. The girls were delighted with it! Mama and Daddy were pretty excited, too. As we opened the set, we were able to talk about each of the characters -- Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the angels, the wisemen, and, of course, the baby Jesus. We talked about the whole Christmas story, which is just what we had hoped would happen.

Actually, we had a lot of time to talk. The set is amazingly detailed and has more pieces than we'd care to count. We painstakingly matched the characters to their accessories (thank goodness they came with directions!) and then arranged them in the little paper stable that came with the set.


I left Kathleen with the completely assembled toy while I took Madeline upstairs for her morning nap. Once I'd gotten Madeline settled (a process that takes only a few minutes), I returned downstairs to find a bit of a disaster. It looked as though the figures had been decapitated!

Feeling a little concerned (is that a normal response to a new toy?) and a bit irritated (it really had taken a while to assemble), I tried to remind myself that Kathleen isn't yet three. So what if she took it apart? How else would a toddler play with a nativity?

"Wow," I said, "What happened to everyone?"

"Everyone gived their crown to baby Jesus and his mommy," she explained.

I gasped. And then I saw. Everything -- every cloak, every hat, every accessory (including, ahem, everyone's hair) was, indeed, arrayed before the infant King.


Who'd have thought the one giving the Advent lessons would be our toddler?

[They] fall down before him who sits on the throne,
and worship him who lives for ever and ever.
They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.
Rev. 4:10-11