Seven? Wow, I'm really behind.

We wanted to watch "show" (as our kids call anything on a screen) about Christmas before we put up our nativity set. Of course I specifically wanted one about the birth of Jesus and not one of the zillion Cartoon-Character's-Zany-Christmas-Special's that are out there. I picked up The Nativity Story from the library's video section but a quick preview showed it was too intense for the kids. (We're looking forward to watching it after they go to bed in the next few evenings.) But that left a dilemma as to what to watch. Blockbuster was NO help.

I called our local LifeWay bookstore and the lady there graciously looked through their available DVDs and read the description of a few of them to me. Since it seemed like one of those would work, I packed the kids in the car (including one with a fever) and drove toward Lifeway near downtown Orlando late on a Friday afternoon. Crazy.

Actually it didn't end up being that bad. I figured out how to get all the way there with out using any of the major (read: Colonial Blvd) arteries. Gotta love those honeycomb Winter Park neighborhoods. I guess all that garage-sale navigating is paying off!! It seems strange that I know this area as well as I do. I think I've lived here longer than just about any other place I've lived. Anyway... We made it there, picked up The Story of Christmas and got back just fine.

The DVD was... interesting. The animation from 1994 leaves a lot to be desired compared to the fantastic CGI of today. And the dialogue was a little… how shall I say... canned. But I really didn't mind that it was basic. That's what I was looking for: something basic for my preschool age children.

What I didn't like was that it was a little too intense. The story, told from a donkey's perspective, seems to be more focused on King Herod and his jealousy than on Jesus himself. The film starts with the villainous Herod and keeps going back to his murderous intent on Jesus life. Of course they don’t “show” anything, but the terrified mothers and the vicious looking soldiers raising their weapons were enough to give you a good picture of what happened in Bethlehem and why Jeremiah prophesied that there would be great weeping there. The story then follows Joseph and Mary as they take their child to Egypt to protect him from assassination. I can’t remember ever seeing a film portray the time Jesus spent in Egypt and, as an adult, I enjoyed this segment of the film quite a bit. I feel like it gave me a better perspective on who Jesus was, on His roots, if you will. (One of Rich Mullin’s final uncut songs comes to mind: “My Deliverer” on The Jesus Record. Terrific stuff.) Even so, it was too much for my kids. A good chunk of the film’s 45 minutes was “scary” for them. Not how I wanted them to remember their first nativity movie.

Now that I think about it, this DVD follows Matthew 2 very closely. Nothing wrong with that. It’s just not the gentle Luke 2 version to which we are more accustomed. Maybe I need to change my perspective. The Bible deals with reality and the reality is that Jesus did threaten Herod’s world, and ultimately He rocks the world of every person. Like C.S. Lewis noted in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “Safe?... Who said anything about safe? Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

Still, I think I’ll wait until the kids are a little older before we use this DVD again.

Enough with the DVD review. Afterward we got out the Nativity set. Cora kept calling it the "Activity" set.

Snow White is even curtsying in worship.