"Jesus"

At the beginning of the of Christmas season I purchased a Little People's Nativity Set. Rich and I wanted to get her a nativity set that she could play with and learn about the story of Jesus' birth. Mary loved the little set. Her favorite characters were the animals because she is only 2 and the animals and the sounds they make are very interesting to her. I would tell her who the wise men were and Mary and Joseph and most importantly baby Jesus. When asked about the wise men she would say, "Kings". When asked about the animals she would say, "Moo, Baa or He Haw"! When asked about Mary or Joseph she would say nothing or maybe, "Dollies". When asked about Jesus in the manger, her first response was, "puppy!" I laughed and said, "No Mary, that is baby Jesus". After that she would sometimes say nothing or she would say, "bee bee". I went over it a number of different times and then got busy and didn't do it for a couple of weeks. On Sunday, when we picked Mary up from her toddler class she had a coloring sheet and colored picture of the Christmas story from her class. On our way out, some dear friends gave us some Christmas presents for Rich and I and for Mary. When we got home I set Mary's Sunday School papers on the coffee table and we let her play with the wrapped presents that our friends gave us. She had so much fun picking them up and setting them down and saying, for mommy, for daddy, for me! She was very good that she didn't tear the bows off or rip the paper. She loved seeing the pretty packages! Then I remembered her Sunday School papers. I picked up her colored sheet. It had a picture of a cow, a sheep, baby Jesus and the empty stable. I pointed to the cow and she said, "Mooooo" and then I pointed to the baby in the manger, expecting no response. Her little face brightened and looked up at me with a smile and said, "Jesus". That moment melted my heart. She spoke His wonderful name with such joy! I know they told her in class who that was and then our going over it earlier, made it stick in her mind. It was just so awesome to hear her say his name and it made me think that this is a start of a wonderful road for her, to come to know, love and truly trust that name as her Lord and Good Shepherd, Jesus!