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Anticipation Abounds!
Christmas comes early on the farm! Everyone here is knee-deep and prayer-deep in preparing for the thirty-first year of what has become Bethlehem Revisited. Anticipation fills our hearts as we grandparents along with our children and grandchildren are joined by our large community to worship and work together in bringing this narrative to life once again. Costumes hang in the barn separated into categories: Angels, market-place, shepherds, guides, children, Marys, Josephs. We have covered the paths with wood chips ready for hundreds of people to trudge up and down the hills. The tickets that sat in Judd’s office have been distributed to various outlets. Stock pens for all the animals…
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Third Phase: “Swihart Annual Christmas Pageant”
A terrible commotion was coming from behind the cabin. Our guide, Dr. Paddock, the Old Testament prof at Manhattan Christian College, had led our group down the small knoll, the journey lit only by the guide’s lantern. We had approached a small cabin, the staged home of Mary and Joseph. Through the window, we could discern a couple sitting at the table, apparently enjoying their evening meal. Immediately the source of the commotion became clear, as out of the darkness a white horse appeared, running full speed toward the onlookers. Wide-eyed the group gasped in unison. Before charging the onlookers head-on, the wild steed took a sharp left and disappeared…
