by Vicki Tierney
The story of our nativity set begins over 30 years ago, when Matt and I were just young newlyweds. We received it as a wedding gift, and I must confess, at the time I thought it to be a bit strange for a wedding gift. Fast forward to our first Christmas in our small apartment, and I was very thankful to have it to display, since our modest income didn’t exactly allow for much spending on Christmas decorations.
The set was a Fontanini, and started us out with Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in a manger, and a stable in which todisplay them. The pieces are very realistic, yet durable since they a crafted of resin. There are so many characters to collect! You could pretty much display the entire town of Bethlehem if you wished.
In a few years our two little girls, Paige and Abby, joined our family, and what a treasure our nativity set became as itmade it’s appearance each Christmas. Every year we would make a special trip to Christian Book and Gift (some of youwill remember this store) and pick out one piece to add to the collection. Kings, shepherds, angels, and animals made an appearance in our display. And because the pieces were so durable, the girls enjoyed HOURS of play, reinacting the Christmas story and using bits of cloth and Barbie food to enhance the experiece. We didn’t have a star, though, so Abby pilfered one from another decoration, and christened it Twinky. It became a very beloved part of our nativity.
Years passed and as is to be expected, the magical play with the set came to a close. We had all the necessary pieces and the Christian bookstore closed, so we didn’t add to the collection. However, we did add to our family- our second golden retriever, an adorable, energetic, wonderful dog named Paisley. She was around a year and a half and we had just started trusting her outside her crate when we would leave the house. She had been doing a great job!
One Thursday morning I went to Renovare and when I came home, I happened to notice that baby Jesus was missing from the nativity. I was puzzled and looked and looked but could not find him. It finally dawned on me that PAISLEY ATE BABY JESUS!!!!! (Without going into too many details, this was confirmed the next day, and resin is indeed a very durable material) We all had a good laugh, took some “dog-shaming” pics, and many jokes abounded. I promptly went online and ordered a replacement baby Jesus. Any nativity set would certainly be incomplete without the newborn King!
As I reflect back on these memories, I can’t help but be moved by the richness and goodness of God, that the storyof his incarnation would provide our little girls with such a tangible way to internalize it. And I like to think, even our sweet Paisley in her doggy heart intuitively knew whom to choose haha- our Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, King of Kings and the Bread of Life. May we all be like Paisley and “Taste and see that the Lord is good”! Psalm 34
Vicki Tierney is married to Matt and mom to two young adult daughters and two furry golden retrievers. Together Vicki and Matt own Flapdoodles ice cream. She is involved in co-leading the Renovaré Precepts study at Calvary.
Delightful Story, Vicki!!