Every December growing up, I was involved in a Christmas production. One year, my sisters and I staged The Little Drummer Boy in front of our fireplace. Another year, I narrated the church service reenacting the Nativity scene. Then there was the time neighborhood kids dressed as angels strutted down our hallway. Yep, I take Christmas pageants seriously. Still, it was not until I was asked to lead the children’s Christmas Eve pageant for our church that the importance of this ritual became clear.
Who would work best where? I typecast at first, but doing that seemed so obvious. And there was nothing obvious about Jesus or the story of his birth.
Wouldn’t it be fitting to see the children shine in ways they’d never imagined? With my superstar sisters, my getting to play the title role of the drummer boy was huge for me. I was stunned when our church musical director let me, a dyslexic student, narrate the service.
So I followed in those footsteps. The often-overlooked girl was thrilled to be the narrator, with the most lines. The nonathletic boy stood taller as Joseph because that made him the captain of our team. My shy daughter, Meredith, agreed to play the star that opened and closed the story. She was shaking as we suited her up, but leading the cast down the aisles, she beamed. All our stars shone brightly that night while being seen in a whole new light.
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