So This is Christmas

Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head

The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay

The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes

I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my side,
'Til morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray

Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with Thee there

Because Christ is the meaning of life for so many people, I thought it would be fitting to commemorate this year's Christmas with a classic poem and pictures from a nativity scene I recently attended.

Incidentally, Mary and Joseph are my good friends Abbey and Alex and Baby Jesus is Ava, the three-month old daughter of my friends Karen and Michael.

Alex grew that beard for months just so he could look like Joseph. Well, at least like the kind of Joseph Norman Rockwell could have appreciated.

Ava, for her part, needed no extra preparation to steal the show as Jesus.