God blessed us with beautiful weather this year and we appreciated the warmth and dryness. There have been many times of single digit temps, biting winds, snow, drizzle....ahhh, good memories!
We also saw many old friends who have participated in the past but came back this year to be a part of the last shows. Betty Stokes, with her husband Charlie, started serving hot chocolate with the first pageant. Charlie has since gone Home, but Betty wanted to be here for the last night.
Here's Georgeanne and Carol who have taken up the very important duties of hot chocolate and cookie distributors for the past few years
Gary and I are so blessed to have been in the pageant all 35 years. Gary has always been a Wise Man and I have always been in the choir, although for the past few years Charles has had me don a costume and go out for the last scene and sign the last song, "Go Tell It On The Mountain."
Our children have been involved for all 35 years, as well. I have blogged about their involvement several times. All of the grandchildren except one have been able to play parts in the pageant.
Here are some pics from this year:
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| The Choir in "the trailer to your left" |
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Mema with Jadon, Haven and Jude Jadon on the roof of the stable  |
Todd and Heather, Jadon, Haven and Jude
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| Lindsay as Mary with Cael as little Jesus |
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| Lindsay and Ava, the traveler |
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| Matt turning Ava to the camera |
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| Gavin and Ava as travelers |
I'm not sure the fact of this being the last pageant has really sunk in and may not until the week after Thanksgiving, 2013 when the buildings are not being set up at the fairgrounds and flyers and signs are not in the church lobby to pass out.
I just have to say how thankful I am for this very important part of our family's life. It was never a question for us of "are we doing the pageant this year?" It has just always been a major part of our Christmas celebration. We have loved every minute of it, especially those milestone years when: Lucas was 3 years old and played the part of little Jesus that his mother Wendy had played when she was 3 years old in 1978. Gavin was the angel on the roof, like his dad Matt had been when he was Gavin's age. This year, Jadon, was the angel on the roof, like his dad Todd had been at that age. Interestingly enough, even our children-in law have been a part of this pageant most of their lives.....Lindsay, Matt's wife, is Charles Dixon's granddaughter and has never known a time there was not a pageant. Heather was a teenager when she came to our church and was a part of the pageant b.t. (before Todd). Doug has been a shepherd, disciple and even gone from car to car welcoming viewers before the show started.
I thank the Lord for men like Charles Dixon who are so committed they keep going with a mission they know is from the Lord. There were years we had to cancel one or two nights because of weather, or crowds were so down it seemed useless or we were scrambling to find enough actors to play all the parts. But he never gave up. He just kept going. And then there were those times he heard from people who were so touched, or their family member recommitted to Christ, or those who were saved because they saw and heard the Gospel reenacted. Thank you Charles for keeping on. Thank you also for knowing that there is a season for everything and just because this season has ended, there is always a new season. Can't wait to see what the Lord does next.
Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!!
Donna
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