My Little Lost Lamb

When I was pregnant with Sarah (lo, these 30 years ago) Marv got me a Nativity Scene for Christmas. I’d always wanted one, and don’t know why I never asked my parents for one when I was a kid. It was a wonderful set, and I loved it and love setting it up every year. I have very specific ideas as to how it should be set up. I try to make the scene look as realistic as possible. I don’t have everyone spread out in a panorama, with the Christ Child smack in the middle. I have Mary hovering right next to the manger, with Joseph right behind her. I have the Wise Men hovering around in a circle, the kneeling one right beside the manger opposite Mary. The one shepherd with the lamb on his shoulders is sorta on the periphery, as would suit his class. The rest of the animals would be spread around, with the 2 sheep by the shepherd. There was one little lamb that was posed like he was running, and I would have him positioned as if he was indeed running off away from the group. Over the years I added some cats, because let’s face it, you can’t tell me there weren’t rodents around an animal place, and where there are rodents, there WILL be cats! One cat lays on a straw mat at the back of the barn, one cat is peeking out from the hay loft, and one curious little cat is right there at the foot of the manger, looking in at the Baby.
I don’t know when it was that I noticed the runaway lamb was missing. I don’t remember missing it when I packed up the set after Christmas, but I do remember missing it when setting it up the following year. I carefully searched through the papers in the box, but no lamb. The years went by and I figured somewhere along the line he’d fallen off the table where I’d set the Nativity up, maybe in the wastebasket.
A month ago, when we started getting ready to do the home improvements, Marv removed the huge board-and-brick bookcase in the living room. That thing hadn’t been moved since it was put up years and years ago. We found several books that had fallen behind the shelves….AND WE FOUND THE LAMB! He’d gotten knocked off the table and had ended up behind the bookcase. What a wonderful find that was! I was a little surprised at how much of a lift that gave to my heart. He’s now in the china cabinet, waiting for December. I might have the other sheep block his path in the future…