A Lizard for Baby Jesus

Enjoy this precious testimony from a mother of one of the “Little Lambs” in Douglas, MA. The two attend Little Lambs and “People’s Coffee Hour”, which are part of Walking in the Light Ministry, led by Jeanie Gangne. Jeanie became a Christian through Coffee Break and now leads this ministry for women in transitional situations. 

What I have seen from the program so far is that in ONE YEAR my 2 year old has been truly learning about God and forming his own precious relationship with Jesus! Jeanie connects with the children and presents everything to them on a level that they can understand and that is appropriate for their age. It’s been a pleasure to watch his relationship with Christ grow. As a parent of such a young child, there have been times when I can’t help but wonder how much of the things my son repeats back to me are out of true appreciation and understanding or if he’s simply reciting what he’s told by myself, his father and the material covered in Little Lambs. I’d think, “Is it really sinking in though? Does he actually get it?” 

Recently, over the Christmas season, my doubts of his grasping the true concept of Christ’s love for him dissipated. Jeanie invited me and my son to go along with her and her friend to a live nativity reenactment in Mendon. I was excited that my son would be able to watch the story of the birth of Christ unfold before his eyes. As per usual, Santa Claus made an appearance at this gathering and each child got to sit on his lap and receive a present. My son was not really all that interested in Santa, but he was pretty happy about the toy lizard that he was able to pick out from under the tree! 

Afterwards, we moved on to go and watch the nativity act and I was left without words as I saw my little boy run up to the manger excitedly shouting, “I want to go see baby Jesus! Can I go see him Mommy?! Can I go up?” I got a nod of approval from “Mary and Joseph” and my little boy slowly, gently walked right up to the cradle with baby doll Jesus lay.  He stared with amazement and wonder at Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men and the angel. He looked down at “baby Jesus” and I could tell by the look on my son’s face and the loving manner in which he approached the cradle, that to him, this was the true magic of Christmas. To him the magic of Christmas was not inside with Santa, but it was laying here in the manger on that cold winter night. I saw that he got it. I saw him look at baby Jesus with so much love and gentleness. Actually, I think everyone saw it.

And then, as if the moment could not get any more precious, he took his new toy lizard that was just given to him by Santa, and he laid it in the cradle with “baby Jesus” and patted Jesus’ belly gently. My 2 year old boy was simply enamored with Jesus and wanted to give him the gift that he was just given. He stayed there by the cradle for nearly 10 minutes, not wanting to leave! When I snapped out of my awestruck state of mind I realized that he should probably come away and let the actors get on with their performance. I stepped in and told him to come back to the crowd with me. I had to take him away kicking and screaming, “I want to stay with baby Jesus! Noooo! Don’t take me away!”

It was such an incredible moment for myself, Jeanie and I am sure for the Christians in the crowd. I am forever grateful to the ministries of Walking in Light and to the Little Lambs program for helping to guide my son into his own relationship with Christ.  Teaching our children about God’s love isn’t always easy and it can be confusing for us as parents because our children ask so many questions that I don’t always know how to answer. I do believe that this program is going to be the hand to hold in helping me raise my children in God’s light.

Questions to ponder:

• What children in your community need to meet Jesus? 
• What families in your community lack support in faith training of their children?
• How could you learn more about the current needs of children and families of your community?