There is nothing quite like a children's Christmas program. There is just Something about them that makes us, almost swoon. It makes our holiday season seem more complete and gives us the warm fuzzies that tells us, that all is still calm and bright.
Then you have the reality of the whole thing. A church has to start looking for a Christmas program director while we are all still wearing shorts and flip flops. The music must be chosen and the cast assembled. After Thanksgiving, the race is on. Practices on most Saturdays of December, the angel wings and halo es must be constructed and the sound man is tested to the edge of his sanity. All of this, in search of the Perfect Christmas program and this year, I think I have finally figured it out and here is the deal for all of you program people.
We all want a Christmas program but we know the Story... Even if you only go to church once a year, you already know the Story. I do believe that people watching children's Christmas programs can be overwhelmed and may see the baby Jesus in a new light but basically, we are all there for the same reason...to see our kid sing, dance while seeing how cute they are. That is it, We want to take their picture with the rest of the kids as a background. That is why we show up 45 minutes early, save 10 seats and guard them like crazy. That is our goal. (I overheard the director yesterday trying to explain to bunch of little kids about her goal for the program - swoosh, right over their heads)
Pictures of them in their angel wings and haloes, picture of them in their Christmas outfits - that is all we want. I am just telling the truth here - Dear Christmas Program Director - Teach the kids a song, line them up 10 at a time on the stage and let us see our kid sing and take their picture. That would make us so happy and take a lot of pressure off of you.
After the program, the pastor gave a great sermon about letting all people in. We are not to judge who may or may not be worthy - that is God's job. As he spoke, I thought about one little angel who was not allowed to participate in the program because the wings and halo were just too much to handle.
Should you be able to still sing in the christmas program if the costume doesn't work for you? Absolutely.
If you march to the beat of a different drummer, should you be left behind? Absolutely not
The Story of Christmas is age old and no matter what the theme of the program may be, the Message is always there. No one ever walks away from a christmas program in confusion about what they saw. It is pretty straight forward but has tremendous ramifications and to see that acted out by their own, would make it even more powerful. I understand that there are lots and lots of logistics involved but Sometimes we get lost in the details and forget the Big Picture. Forget goals, forget structure - let each child be heard as they bring the Story of Christmas to their own and see what God can do...
