NOTE: Three weeks ago i began posting a series of five short stories surrounding the incarnational birth of Jesus. These stories are fictional first-person accounts of the prophecies and events surrounding the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL! My prayer is that, through the telling, you are reminded of the Good News of Advent this Christmas season. To that end, let’s look at the account through the eyes of five very different individuals:

Mary – the virgin (November 18)

Eli – the father of Mary (November 25)

Miriam – the hostess (December 2)

Sarah – the granddaughter of Miriam (This Week – December 9)

Levi – the rabbi in Bethlehem (December 16) 

* * * * *

Hello! My name is Sarah and I am eight years old. I live in the town of Bethlehem in my grandparents’ home with my mom, dad, uncles, aunts, brothers, sister, and cousins. There are eighteen of us living in the same house. And my aunt is expecting a baby, so guess how many will be in our house then? Nineteen! 

Our home is built into the side of a hill, and the stable where we keep our animals is a cave in the hill. Two years ago, my grandpa Achim added more rooms upstairs in our house. My grandpa says God has blessed him with a big family. He says if God gives us more kids, we’ll just keep adding more rooms to our house! My grandpa, my dad, and my uncles are all carpenters, so that will be easy for them to do.

Not long ago, the Roman emperor said all the people in our land must travel to the town where their family was originally from in order to be counted. Our family is from this town, so we didn’t have to go anywhere! But many of our cousins who live in other towns had to come here. And many of them were going to stay at our house.

Grandpa and grandma had all of us kids move into two rooms so our guests could sleep in our rooms. All of us helped my grandparents get ready for our cousins’ visit.

My grandpa was really happy his cousin Joseph was coming. I was with my grandparents in Jerusalem for Passover earlier this year when they last saw him. My grandpa and Joseph acted like best friends. And grandpa saved a special room in the house just for him.

But then one night grandpa told us Joseph was not going to stay with us. We were all surprised! I saw grandma give my grandpa a strange look, but they didn’t say anything. 

Two days later I was walking through town and saw Shimon, the shepherd boy. He asked me about a baby born in our stable a couple of nights ago. I laughed because I thought he was being silly. But he said he wasn’t playing – there really was a baby because he, his dad, and some other shepherds had come to see Him. And they had met the baby’s parents, too.

Next he told me a wild story about angels and how they talked to the shepherds and told them to go see the baby. Then Shimon looked at me and asked, “Who were they?” 

“I don’t know,” I said. “You’re the one who saw them. Not me!” I decided Shimon really was making up a story!

Later that afternoon, I went to play with one of my cousins who lived in town. She  had company staying with her family, too, including a little boy named James, his father, Clopas, and his mother. I had met James in Jerusalem. He had been with his uncle Joseph and his parents at Passover. James looked surprised when I told him our family was sorry that his uncle did not come to Bethlehem. 

“Of course, he came to Bethlehem,” James said. “He and Aunt Mary both came. Didn’t you see them?”

“No,” I told him. “They couldn’t have come. My grandpa told us Joseph wouldn’t be coming to stay with us.”

“Well, they may not have stayed with you,” James said, “but they came here. And Aunt Mary was going to have a baby.”

“A baby!” I said with surprise. “Shimon told me he saw a baby in our stable.”

“Who is Shimon?” James asked.

“He’s just a shepherd boy I know,” I told him. Then I left so I could get home and find out what was going on. I was really confused!

I told my grandma what Shimon and James had said. She was not surprised at all! She told me that my grandpa would not be happy if he heard me talking about this.

“I cannot tell you what has happened,” Grandma said. “Grandpa will not let me. And you can’t talk to anyone else about it. I hope one day I can tell you. But until then you must promise not to ask any more questions, and you must promise not to talk about it with anyone else, including your parents.”

I promised my grandma that I would keep the secret. And I did!

One night we were eating supper and my aunt Tamar said she had heard a baby crying upstairs in the house. My grandma said, “With all the babies in this house, it’s hard to tell where all of the cries are coming from! But each one is a joy.” 

Later that night, I saw my grandma go upstairs. She was carrying a small pot of food, so I decided to follow her. She went into the empty room that had been saved for Joseph. I quietly walked to the door. I could hear her whispering to someone. Then I heard soft, gentle sounds. “There’s a baby in there!” I said under my breath.

My grandma turned her head to see me just as I stepped through the door. There was a young woman with her, holding a baby. At first my grandma looked angry, but then she smiled and told me to come in and close the door.

The baby had dark, curly hair and the most beautiful, brown eyes I had ever seen. I could not stop looking into His eyes. He smiled as if He knew who I was. He was not like any baby I had ever seen before. There was something very special about Him. The entire room felt peaceful.

“This is the baby the shepherd boy told me he saw in the stable, isn’t He?” I asked.

“Yes, He is,” my grandma said. “Sarah, this is Jesus. And this is His mother, Mary.”

My grandma said that when Joseph and Mary came to our front door, she and my grandpa were surprised. They could tell that Mary was going to have a baby soon. Joseph told them how an angel had visited Mary and told her she was going to have the Son of God. That angel later told Joseph the same thing. So, Joseph married Mary even though she was already pregnant.

My grandpa didn’t believe Joseph. He thought Mary and Joseph had done something wrong, so he told them there was no room for them to stay with us. But grandma told them they could spend the night in our stable. Now it was beginning to make sense! My grandparents had told all of us one night that we could not go in the stable. Now I knew why.

Jesus was born that night! The angels told the shepherds about His birth. And Shimon, his dad, and the other shepherds came to see Jesus in the stable. The next morning, grandpa told Mary and Jesus they could stay in our house until they were ready to go home. But he said Joseph had to stay in Jerusalem.

“Sarah, you cannot tell anyone they are here,” grandma said.

“Can I come help with the baby if I am very quiet about it?” I asked. Mary looked at my grandma and said it was okay with her. She would be happy for the company. Grandma said, “Then it’s okay with me, as long as you don’t let anyone see you.”

For the next few weeks, I carefully made my way to the “empty” room each day to spend time with Mary and Jesus. Mary and I would talk as I held the baby. I would often stare into His eyes – and He would look right back into mine. I never wanted to leave the room when it was my time to go.

Nobody knew about my secret until last night! The sound of heavy footsteps walking upstairs woke us all up. I jumped out of bed to see what was going on. My sister and some of my cousins were already up.

We saw a group of men who looked important and were dressed very different from us. I knew they had come to see Jesus. A young boy carried a pretty box upstairs. It was a present for the baby! When the box was opened, a sweet smell filled the air. My parents and my aunts and uncles stood at the door looking inside.

We all watched as the strangers left our house. Then one by one, my family went into the room and met Jesus. Soon my grandpa walked into the room. I thought he might be angry at all of us for entering the room. But instead, he started crying and fell to his knees. It scared me a little because I had never seen my grandpa cry. 

“I am so sorry, Mary,” he said. “I am so very sorry I did not believe you and Joseph. I did not let you come into my home! I did not let the Son of God into my house! I turned my back on you – and Him! Mary, please forgive me!” Then he looked at baby Jesus and said, “God, please forgive me!”

I will never forget that special night – the night my family and I spent with Jesus. Joseph arrived the next morning to take Mary and Jesus to Jerusalem. But before they left, Joseph and Grandpa hugged for a very long time.

* * * * *

This story is excerpted from Not Too Little To Know. The complete book of ten stories about children who witnessed the advent of Jesus is now available through Amazon in paperback, hardcover print, for your e-reader, and as an audiobook. It is an illustrated chapter book about kids for kids ages 8 and up. Click HERE for more information on how you can order your copy.

Each of the children’s stories include a word of explanation at the end of the story, such as this one:

About Sarah

Sarah and her family are not in the Bible. We do know that Bethlehem was Joseph’s “ancestral” home. In those days, Bethlehem would have been a small, out-of-the-way place. Travelers would have stayed in homes – most likely with family. Joseph probably had family who lived in the town. And it is possible his family would have reacted much like Sarah’s grandpa, when he said there was no room for them to stay. We know that Mary gave birth to Jesus in a  stable. But we also know that about six weeks later, when the wise men visited Mary and Jesus, they were staying in a home in Bethlehem. This story explains how all of that might have happened.

You can read about the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-7 in the Bible.

* * * * *

Copyright © 2020 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.

Photo by Lightstock