JCLF...In a Manger?

Last night, JCLF all came together out at Eloheh village so as to experience part of the Christmas story in an entirely different way. As we all arrived, we piled into the house and prepared to see what Mary, Joseph, and baby (8lbs 7oz) Jesus might have experienced amongst the animals, hay, and nice April evening air. Piling out of the house, one could see the familiar Eloheh Village sitings - chickens, cats, those two huge white dogs, sheep, Little Dot, and of course, the goats, for it was into their home that we would go and read Scripture and experience what a manger may have really been like. To tell you the truth, I was a little more caught up in the goats, the smell of hay and goat poop, and this little baby goat named Chocolate than I was in the actual reading of Scripture, but instead of hearing the Scripture, I felt like I was experiencing it. I mean, really, the smells, the goats nudging us and trying to get attention (they probably thought we were there to feed to them), and imagining infant Jesus laying in a manger. I had never thought of this before, but if Jesus was laying in a type of animal trough, do you realize that he was at the same height as the "waste escape mechanism" of the animals? Yeah, I know that's gross, but it kind of brings the whole story (that I heard over and over and over...ad nauseum...growing up) that much closer to reality. Like Greg said, "When you can see it, smell it, and touch it, it really kind of brings it home." So, thanks Randy, Edith, Skye, Young, and Redbird for letting us come out and experience the nativity in an entirely different way!!