Now that the Christmas Season is almost here (in the Christian year, Christmas begins on December 25 and lasts 12 days until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6), it's time to put away Santa-related fun and games like Elf on the Shelf and focus on the reason for the season ... the birth of Jesus. One way to do this with children is to make the journey of the Three Kings to the manger last for the whole 12 days of Christmas. This can be as simple as placing the king figures on the other side of the room from your Nativity scene and slowly moving them bit by bit across the house until they land in front of Baby Jesus on January 6. (And if you don't have a Nativity scene, you can make one out of Legos, or use Fisher-Price little people, or action figures or even cans of pop.) |
Regardless of how you get them there, take all 12 days to move the kings to the manger. It's a delightful practice that your children will remember into adulthood. And if they are like mine ... adults who come home for Christmas ... they expect to see those kings somewhere in the living room, on a shelf or table, far from the stable, still following that crazy star of hope to the place where Jesus lays.