Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Baby Jesus Was a Girl

Have you ever been playing Barbies and found yourself with too many girl dolls for the double date you want to stage? And so you dress up one of the girls in a pair of jeans, stuffed her hair under a cap, and called her "Tim?"

Um . . . just me?

Ahem! Moving on . . .

This is my daughter, Zoe.

She's the little one, with the "Wake me up and I'll KILL you!" countenance. The fourth and final fruit of my loins. The other one is my wife. Both beautiful, no? And both of the female persuasion.

The date was Sunday, December 17th, 2000, a mere eight days before the big show that is Christmas Day. She entered the world on a dark and snowy morning just after 2:00AM. Or so I'm told; I think I slept through it. She didn't cry too much. My wife was drugged up and giggling maniacally when she wasn't snoring herself. We'd done this before, you see. Not a big deal.

We all loved holding her. Especially her big brother:

That's a death grip, people. That grin? Even at a tender eighteen-months, he is most certainly contemplating the havoc he will wreak upon her in the coming years. But darn it if she isn't just simply a cuddle bunny!

Fast forward one week. We're at church for the annual Christmas Eve shindig. The church famous for their live nativity. With live shepherds and sheep and donkeys and . . . people dressed up as angels. There is no shortage of live. And for the evening service, our friend Keith is going to sing a song by Michael Card titled "Joseph's Song." And because a live baby Jesus beats a plastic one any day of the week . . . and twice on Sunday . . . (sorry) . . . he asked if we'd be willing to let him hold Zoe while he sang.

(Holy crap! Show business! The crowds! The applause! The FAME!!!)

"Um . . . sure," agrees my wife. So she removes Zoe from her favorite pink blankie and we wrap her up in some brownish swaddling clothes. And there she was . . .

. . . swaddled, sashayed serenaded . . . and completely zonked. He kept rocking her and singing into her face, yet she snored and snored and refused to stir. They could have gone ahead and used the doll and no one would have known the difference.

Except for my wife and I. We stood in the wings and beamed with pride. Our little girl, the baby Jesus. That, my friends, is a helluva show . . .

So, it's Christmas week. Was Jesus really a girl? Scratch that . . . Do you and yours attend a live nativity? Or is that just too creepy, with all the hay and animal dung and all? With just a few days before the Big Day, what is one special thing you do to help bring it all together? And last-minute shopping doesn't count . . .

11 comments:

Working Mommy said...

LOL!!! I can only imagine how proud you both must have been!! Good thing they didn't ask for our babe because she is at that age (5 months) when almost anyone who she doesn't recognize is EVIL and deserves her screaming in their face. YIKES!

~WM

Shelle-BlokThoughts said...

We always bake stuff. I also read a story that makes me cry.

But that story was precious, I kinda laughed at the last picture because of the way you described things :)

As far as Jesus being a girl...uuuuhhhh no, but I would wager he was a pretty baby and if dressed up in pink could have easily passed for a girl :)

Hubman said...

I have 2 live nativity memories, one from the church I attended as a kid, the younger brother of one of my friends was baby Jesus. I saw the former baby Jesus a few months ago- he's 30 yrs old now, which makes me feel old :-/

My grandmothers church used to put on a live outdoor nativity scene, no matter what the weather. One year, it was bitterly cold out, my sister and I were leaning against a chain link fence when for some reason, my sister stuck out her tongue. Yes, it stuck. The nativity scene was temporarily halted while warm water was found to defrost my sisters tongue from the cold metal. Leave it to my sister to interrupt a depiction of the birth of Christ!

We don't really do anything special as a family- just church on Christmas Eve then maybe we'll drive around looking at the light displays people set up.

Anonymous said...

My baby girl was birthed on 12-17 also!

We attend the church functions and eat a lot, well thats not new really I mean I always eat a lot, no way I can let my weight drop any!

Miranda said...

My baby girl was baby Jesus the year she was born...and she had a white bow stuck on her head with KY'n all!!

We do all sorts of activities with our family for the season, this year we attended a live nativity. It was so sweet and reverent.

Unknown said...

Oh nice, your family is beautiful. Love your son's grin, he will be wreaking havoc on her alright. He thinking "hehehehe"

I always thought Jesus was a woman! No surpise there.

Anonymous said...

@Working Mommy: Yeah, at a week old, she was up for just about anything that looked like sleep.

@Shelle: What story do you read? Spill it, chickie . . .

@Hubman: Driving around and looking at lights is an awesome way to spend the evening. Enjoy!

@Sage: My baby just turned nine. NINE! Egad . . .

@Miranda: The bow is a nice touch. Best probably to avoid any potential confusion . . .

@Wannabe: Thanks! I am indeed blessed . . .

Anonymous said...

"We stood in the wings and beamed with pride"

What a lovely comment, I have tears in my eyes.

David Edward TF

OneZenMom said...

What a sweet story. :)

OneZenMom said...

Being godless heathens, we don't do Nativities, live or otherwise. But I do love Christmas music of all kinds. Especially the classic choral carols. Our house is filled with seasonal songs in the days leading up to Christmas and I love to catch our local winter youth choral concerts whenever we can. :)

Anonymous said...

@zenmom: Have you heard the latest collection of "winter" songs by Sting? You'd love it, methinks . . .

WE BELONG