every year our ward primary (church youth group) puts on a small nativity, singing songs and dressing the part.  every day for a week my girls would ask, "what day is it today? how many days until saturday?  i can't wait to be an angel!"  by tuesday the girls had their dresses layed out and ready for the event. they rehearsed their songs, G adding in hand actions, and chattered about how beautiful it would be.

our boy seemed less enthused about the program and much more interested in dinosaurs and dreaming of toy robots. he had options: he vacillated between being a cow or a sheep; wiseman and shepherd were clearly on the table.

so on the morning of the blessed event, in between doing hair and finding shoes, i called down to him to get on his brown shirt and pants, a cow he'd be.  several minutes went by, but no sign of the boy.  i call down again and up the stairs he runs wearing his SUIT. we're still not exactly sure what he was going for, maybe he was the wisest man of all, maybe a true shepherd of mankind... but he certainly didn't belong in a barn. at this point we were dangerously close to being late so we figured, well, this is what he wants and he does look very dapper.

as the children lined up on the stage, taking their places in the nativity scene i wondered how he'd fit, what people would think, where he belonged.  the angels to the left on risers. the blessed family on the right cocooned around the baby.  and yet, there he was, smack dab in the middle, happy to just be there.  no one snickered, no one giggled to us afterwards, because we all felt the spirit of their earnest and sweet voices.  we all felt the calm of that silent night.  and while he may have been a tad overdressed, he was loved and accepted just as he should be.  he'll always be our free man.