One Good Reason NOT to Have a Christmas Play at Church

I have had to make a very difficult decision this season. I have decided not to have a Christmas Program for our children this year.
I can’t tell you how difficult of a choice that it was for me to make. I even had a new play written and ready to go. I was so excited to put it together and have the kids put it on. It took prayer and talking it through with my husband to finally have the strength to do it. You see, I’m a people pleaser and I don’t like to let people down. I was afraid of what people might say when they found out that we weren’t having a program this year.
But, sometimes, less is more.
I needed to do what was right by the kids in our ministry. You see, we have just a few kids in our group this year, and they are all quite young. It was going to be too much for them and it would put them, and me, under a lot of stress. I had to ask myself, “Why do we do a program?” Usually, the answer is because it teaches the children the story of Jesus’ birth. That’s a great answer…so usually it’s worth all of the work that goes into putting it all together and organizing it all.
This year, that would not have been accomplished. I don’t feel, with the kids that we have, that putting them through all of that would have taught them the story of Jesus’ birth. I think we need to take a different avenue in order to teach them this all too important lesson.
I have to put the children in our ministry first and do what’s best for them. For this year, that means doing less. They need someone who’s not crazy trying to get them to stand in the right place. They need a teacher who can look in their eyes and tell them that God loves them so much that He sent His Son. They need a friend who cares about them so much to make sure that this essential lesson is getting through to them and that they understand it completely.
I am putting the children in my group first and doing less. Because, I truly believe, that less IS more sometimes.