The 2024 Little Lambs Nativity was again a joy to behold. The true meaning of Christmas and the way it is portrayed in the Bible, which is familiar to most of us, was read by the mums and grandparents of the children present. An unusual twist was that the story was told, as it was seen by a colt, who was in the stable when Jesus was born. There were a lot of animal voices as the story unfolded, cows that mooed, sheep that bleated, donkeys that brayed and of course the neighing of the colt. Fr Derek did a very good impression of the farmyard animals and had the congregation joining with him, giving us the feeling we were all in a stable.

The children all arrived dressed in their various costumes, most were very tiny people, who although they did not all want to sit and be admired, they were so good , not like the noisy animals, the children made no noise, not that is, until they were given the instruments to celebrate the arrival of the Kings when they really enjoyed shaking all manner of different sounding instruments in this time of celebration. One little angel was not so keen to be centre stage and obviously spotted someone she knew at the back of the church she really wanted to see but she was back in her place for her big role of producing the large star that heralded the coming of the Kings.

Mary and Joseph sat centre stage, Mary proudly cuddled her sleeping baby looking happy and serene. Baby Jesus was at one stage rather unceremoniously returned to his cradle, but slept on. Joseph obviously had been a shepherd at some time in his life, as he was mesmerised by two cuddly sheep that he had taken from the altar rail, but he was a dutiful father, and remained sitting quietly beside Mary. There were a variety of animals lined up on the altar rail at the beginning of the story, the children were fascinated by them and gradually many of the animals made their way into the arms of the children to be cuddled. There was a very tall camel, who looked as though he might not have been fed for a while, but he stood majestically overseeing all the action in the stable. No-one attempted to make the noise of a camel though, so he must have been a little put out!

The children joined in with the action songs during the performance and at the end sang “Twinkle, twinkle little star” with actions, even some of the tiniest were wriggling their fingers in time with the words. The presentation ended with the Little Lambs prayer which Mary was very familiar with and said every word.

How such a wonderful scene could be produced with such tiny people always amazes me, and the leaders and carers involved have to be congratulated. This year there was unfortunately a smaller number of children, which must have made their task harder, but it had not lost any of the wonder of previous years. I have to say it again, for me it is the best bit of Christmas.

There were seasonal refreshments served in the hall and donations for Little Harbour amounted to £128, thank you to all who supported this cause.