Focus
by Brent Nidiffer and Jamie Shell
In an article entitled "Barbie and the Three Wise Men" from Working Mother Magazine, Kim Wiley told the story about a beautiful and expensive creche she purchased in order to teach her children some of the values she had learned from her parents. After explaining to her children the significance of the manger scene, she was startled the next morning to see a nude Barbie doll and a headless Ken doll standing in the creche.
As she reached into the manger scene to remove the dolls, she heard her little girl cry, "But Mommy, they brought gifts to baby Jesus too." So Mrs. Wiley left Barbie and Ken where they were. Over the next few days, a variety of dolls and stuffed animals found their place before the manger. Her children had not responded as she had intended, but she admitted that they had clearly understood the message.
One of the difficult things for us to do at Christmas time is to focus. We know it is about the birth of our King, but our day has become cluttered with so much more. This Christmas, let's be like those shepherds who said, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us" (Luke 2:15) Let's join Ken and Barbie at the place that redeems the season.
Posted: 12/20/2001
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200112/20011220_focus.htmlCopyright (c) 2001, Timely Truths Ministries. Used by permission.
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