A tale of 3 nativities...

One of my favorite treasures to display at Christmas is a nativity set made by my sister-in-law, Catherine.  It was a wedding gift, and everything about it is special to me...it's rustic, it has fun fabrics, and there is only one of them.  It is probably my favorite thing to unpack as I am decorating for Christmas.  Well...this year, I had it displayed just so on a table in our family room....everything was perfectly spaced and in order, and I loved looking at it every time I walked by...

Well, as the week before and after Christmas passed, I noticed that every time I passed the nativity, it had been moved...everything pushed closely together, and obviously not how I had arranged it...

This may not seem like a big deal, but with my "OCD" traits, I of course rearranged it every time I noticed it had been played with.  Now, I knew that Clara was the likely "culprit" of the remodeling, but it wasn't until a few days ago that I thought to ask her why she kept moving the pieces of the manger scene.  Her response?  "They all want to be close to Jesus...so that he won't cry or be lonely.  They want to be near him."

A sweet moment...and needless to say, I left the nativity just as she had displayed it.  A reminder to me...I want to be near Jesus too...

As for the tale of the 3rd nativity?  Well, a picture is worth a thousand words...

I guess "My Little Pony" and Barbie's sweet horse want to be near too.  :)