The Nativity Song

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." -Agnes M. Pharo.
 Last night was our ward Christmas party.  There were so many people!  It was probably the best turnout that I have ever seen.  The program was short and sweet.  The priamary children have been working for the last several weeks on "The Nativity Song".  They each had different parts.  There were three to four children in every group.  They started with the second verse and four little ones dressed as stars came out on the stage.  Then four little angels, four cattle, oxen and sheep, three little "angels" carrying the manger, three shepards, three wisemen, finally Mary and Joseph.  Each group came out as it was their turn to sing.  Mikayla was Mary and carried a baby.  She had a short solo and did a wonderful job.  The kids were amazing!  They brought tears to the eyes of most of the adults.  Here are the words to the song as they sang it.

This is the new star, shining so bright
Lighting the world on that first Christmas night.
This is the angel procaiming the birth
Singing "Hosanna" and "Peace on the earth!"

This is the stable, shelter so bare;
Cattle and oxen first welcomed him there.
This is the manger, sweet hay for a bed,
Waiting for Jesus to cradle his head.

These are the shepherds, humble and mild,
Hast'ning to worship the heavenly child.
These are the wise men who followed the star,
Frankincense, gold, and murrh brought from afar.

See the sweet mother, Mary so fair,
Joseph, who guided the donkey with care.
See the sweet baby of Bethlehem,
Little Lord Jesus, the Savior of Men.

This is the season beloved beloved of the year.
Sing a rhyme;  Christmastime soon will be here.
Tell the true story of Jesus' birth,
When as a baby, he came to the earth

Yesterday was such a wonderful day!  We were not able to go the the town Christmas party because they moved the time on us this week, and we had a prior commitment for that time.  We took the girls to Snowflake where we saw an opera called " Amahl and the Night Visitors".  The part of Amaul was played by Garin Wurschmidt.  He is the Lutheran ministers son.  His father, Randy, teaches the girls  (and myself) piano lessons.  Garin is Mikayla's age.  They are in the same class at school and he was with the girls in the play last summer.  I talked with all the girls and they decided that it was more important to support our friends than to get a present at the community party.  I was so proud of them!  It was a harder decision for Anya, she is still young enough for presents to be pretty important, but she decided that she would rather be with us.  The opera was actually wonderful.  The girls all loved it (especially Anya).  I was a little worried that they would not like the opera because it is so different that anything they have ever seen before.  They thought it was wonderful.  It was only one hour long, and was written for children.  After the opera, the White Mountain Symphony played several songs and the NPC (college) Master Choral sang.  Miracle was so excited.  She went up to the conductor after the event and told her that she really wants to be in that choir.  The conductor is in charge of the choral music at the college.  The conductor told me to bring in Miracle for an audition and she can join the choir.  (The conductor is also one of the people in charge of the children's summer play and worked with Miracle last summer)  She said that she would love to have Miracle in the choir.  Now Miracle is pestering me to hurry and get her an audition.  I am going to try.  I hope she does well, but she is so excited.  Her favorite song was the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.  She wants to sing in a group that sounds that beautiful.  Time will tell if she is ready for this or not.  I think she would do well.  After the play, we did a short amount of Christmas shopping, than hurried home, got dressed and went to the church to help set up for the dinner.  The girls had a wonderful day and really loved the things we did.  So did I.  It is days like this that I love the best.  I am so happy Christmas is Coming.  May you always remember why we really celebrate this season!