Our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, puts on a huge Christmas Nativity Exhibit every year. I think they have been doing it now for about 9 years here in Allen. And it is amazing! I was minimally involved last year and the year before, just completely awe struck at the beauty and the wonder of how this little miracle comes together every year. You can imagine my thoughts when our Stake President asked me to be IN CHARGE of the entire thing. I actually started laughing. I had no idea how I could possibly be the leader of something this huge when I knew so little about it. But, then he said the thing that made it all ok. He told me that his wife, Lynette, would be my assistant chairperson. Ok, I thought, I can do this! Months and months of planning and preparing and organizing made it all worth it when it finally all came together during the last week of November. We start with an empty gym on Monday morning and by Thursday night it is transformed into an amazingly beautiful exhibit. We gathered over 500 nativity sets from all over the world and over 1500 people came through, members and non-members alike. It was definitely well worth the work.
Here is the entrance to the exhibit...
I LOVE this huge nativity set donated by our Temple President's wife every year. Such a perfect piece for the entrance.
The archway as you enter the Exhibit...
These pictures really don't do it justice because the lighting is what makes it take your breath away when you walk in. We had over 50 trees set up with white lights speckled all over the place that added so much.
We also placed about 250 poinsettias which made the perfect finishing touches.
The center tree was decorated by our Stake President's wife and she did an amazing job!! It was the scariest/most exciting part of set-up when we were getting that tree (already decorated) up on top of the tables!!
We had live Christmas music playing constantly throughout the entire 2 days of the exhibit, thanks to members of our stake and community as well. We also had a Live Nativity with Mary and Joseph on the stage, which is one of my favorite parts of the exhibit. Ginger got to take a one-hour shift playing Mary which was neat for her. I loved seeing her up there.
I think the best part of being involved in something like this was getting to rub shoulders with so many amazing people! It was wonderful to get to know the members of our Stake Presidency and their wives on a more personal basis. They are incredible, special people and really so fun to be around.
It was a busy couple of months and an exhausting final week, to say the least, but it was so rewarding and even fun to be involved in such a great event! We were able to let our neighbors and friends and community know that we, as Mormons, believe in Jesus Christ, we Honor His name and we love and worship Him. He is, and should be, the center of our Christmas season.
Until next year....
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