A year ago, we finally had enough children in our Sunday School to put on a play, and  perhaps because we had so many little ones, staging the Christmas pageant seemed a little too challenging or daunting.

Our director, a very creative and energetic person, decided we would act out a story from a popular children’s picture book. It was a cute story that presented the birth of Jesus in a different light. The story played on the idea of the creatures in the barn arguing that their ancestor had the most important job on that Christmas: the cow to share her manger, the sheep to offer a blanket of his own wool to keep the baby warm, the doves that sang the baby to sleep. The only animal left out was the pig.

Every child had a part, and it took a lot of practice and coordination to get children their places at the right time. Younger children had fewer words while older students took main parts like the narrator and the pig. When the day came to present the play to the congregation, every child participated and put in a good effort.

This year— and I don’t want to spoil the fun for parents— the director rewrote one of his own stories and handed out the parts. While the costumes last year included headbands with cow and sheep ears, the accessories are somewhat more simple this year. Again, I’m not going to give anything away. Not the Christmas pageant, but a story about love and caring for others, a message that we do get from the Christmas story.