The very warmest, cold Christmas ever!

Published 5:18 am Saturday, December 13, 2025

This is a true story.

The members of the children’s choir were giddy with excitement. Imagine – a “live Nativity Play” performed with real animals – sheep, pony, and, well, the whole thing! Hubs asked over and over, “Do you think we can pull this off?”

My answer was always an emphatic, “Yes! It will be great!”

I feel a shiver just to remember … why, you ask? The reason — it turned out to be the coldest night on record for mid-December in our small Mississippi town.

Since we were a very small church, with a low budget, it was necessary to be cost-cutting-creative. We made arrangements to borrow a neighborhood pony, but the day prior to the production, the little pony (while standing in his own pasture) was struck by an out of control auto and killed.

Later Hubs said, “This should have been a warning to you this play was going to be a killer in more ways than one.”

But, we were able to borrow another pony, although his acting skills were limited, and the play went forward, sort of. We also borrowed five sheep (three babies, their protective mother and high-strung daddy).

The man who loaned us the sheep said, “Now Mrs. McKee, you know you will be responsible for these sheep?”

And, I said, “Oh, of course, we will take good care of them.” I didn’t really know what “good care” meant in the sheep world, but I figured I could handle it.

Yes, things progressed nicely, other than the pony, until our Joseph fell and fractured his leg. That meant he was on crutches, and then, our Master of Ceremony fell and fractured his leg. He also on crutches, but to their credit and bravery, the play moved forward, wobbly, but forward.

Finally, the night arrived for the production. Oh, my – were we excited! Since the weather turned so-o-o cold, we came up with the plan to begin inside the church. All of the audience (well, you know, all of the moms, dads, grandmas, and papaws, plus the aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, and good-hearted church-folk – in short, those who could not come up with a good excuse to miss it), yes, they were seated in the church auditorium. Earlier in the afternoon we turned up the heat so the little church was warm and toasty. That may have been a mistake, though, because when everyone went outside for the play, and were seated on the metal chairs – ouch!

It was my duty to welcome everyone to our Christmas play that we had entitled “A Night of Miracles.” Later, Hubs said, “It was a miracle alright — a miracle that we all lived through it!”

All of the little angels had such teeth chattering going-on that “Away in the Manager” took on a whole new sound. The shepherds and wise men were all huddled together, with Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus, just trying to stay warm. Yes, the wise men actually came in early thinking it would be warmer up close to the manger.

They were right. We all know it’s always warmer when we stay close to Jesus, I later explained to the children.

Yes, everything seemed to be going pretty well. Mary on the substitute pony and Joseph on crutches didn’t seem too out of place. That was when the pony balked … just as it was time for his big part! Out of nowhere, it seemed, a booted foot was seen giving said pony the necessary encouragement to perform gallantly. I think the booted foot belonged to Hubs.

There was a little mix up when the door to the inn was stuck. In line with cost-cutting creative, the “backstage crew” used refrigerator boxes (loaned from McAllister TV & Appliance store) to simulate the little town of Bethlehem, and Mr. Uncle Jones (an 80-year-old church member and hero for the children) played the inn keeper fearlessly as he said his lines through the shut door. Although we couldn’t see him, we knew he was there, which rings true with our Christian faith, doesn’t it?

Uh, huh, it was going as well as could be expected when the word came. “Uh, err, Mrs. Anne, the sheep have run away!” OMG – what to do?

I got Hub’s attention with a croaked question, “How much do sheep cost?” He knew that I was not suddenly interested in buying livestock, and that’s when he didn’t let me down.

We had a borrowed spotlight, which my husband sat in the back of his pickup to use as the Eastern Star. Just as if it were part of the script, he turned the light toward the piney woods which joined our little country church, and “Sha-zam!” there they were – the little family of sheep!

Afterwards, in the church recreation hall, where we all enjoyed Christmas cookies and wassail, Hubs hugged me with actual tears in his eyes, and with a big smile said, “You have taken me down some long, winding paths in our lives, but this one has got to be the most inspiring!”

As I looked at him with the pure joy of the wonderful compliment, he continued. “It has inspired me to use the words, No. No. No.”

But, I know when he has said, “No.,” he really meant, “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

And so it was on a very cold night in December, God blessed us with the very warmest, cold Christmas ever!

Remembering Briarwood Baptist Church which is located in Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

Anne McKee is a Mississippi historian. See her website: www.annemckee.storyteller.com