This is a page from the newsletter at JD and Libbys Church. Peyton is such a joy, so dainty and lady like.
As the Holy Days of Advent and Christmas pass into memory, I would like
to share one more story with you. This is a story of a little girl who came to our
holiday open house and found herself surrounded by adults and probably wondering
what to do.
Peyton Chanley came with her family to visit, and after she warmed up to
the crowd, she was soon wandering about and looking at the decorations. Jenny
and I have several nativity scenes, and we had a large delicate set under the
Christmas tree. Peyton carefully picked up each piece and examined it closely. I
could tell by the way she was gently handling them, the parents of Jesus and the
magi had nothing to fear. After watching her with great joy, I went on to other
things.That evening as we were cleaning up and putting things away, I noticed
something quite wonderful; Peyton had rearranged the nativity set.
Before her visit, Jesus was front and centerwith the other figures behind him,
all facing out. Now, Jesus was in the center of a circle, hidden, with each
figure facing toward him! I don’t know how Peyton would explain this for
she is young in years, yet she displayed advanced wisdom in an innocent way.
This image, this metaphor raises an interesting question:
Where do you put Jesus in your life?
Is Jesus in the center of all you do,
or just out front on display?
I suspect that like me, he moves about, sometimes very much in the center and at
other times a bit distant. That is the nature and the challenge of being both Christian and human.
Lesson number one from Peyton:
keep Jesus at the center of your life.
Peyton also busied herself with other matters. She rearranged some on the candy canes on the tree,
which I would have loved to watch, and she discovered a very small Noah’s Ark we have. The ark is about
the size of a coffee cup laid on its side, and the animals are very small, about the size of Lincoln’s head on a
penny.
What I didn’t realize was that the roof came off the ark. So once again,
while putting things away, I noticed that Peyton had changed things. This time the
animals were missing. It took me a while to figure out that Peyton had placed them
inside the ark where they would be safe from “the floods!”
Lesson number twofrom Peyton that evening:
God cares for us and protects us.
I think Jenny and I should invite Peyton and other children over from time
to time, for cookies and such, and to watch them teach us more lessons about God,
Jesus, and life through the eyes of a child.
It wouldn’t surprise me if we could add another book to the Bible —
the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Children!
