Welcome, all Wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span.
Summer to winter, day in night,
Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Great little One! Whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.
– Richard Crashaw (1613-1649)
My fondest memories of Christmas as a child was a Christmas Eve service my brother, my sister and I would design, set up and perform every year in our living room.
There were ordinary things around the house that turned into sacred objects that night. Like the drop-leaf table which, with stacked books covered by a sheet, served as our austere pulpit. On the top of the stack we placed an open Bible, and on either side of it, a candelabra – the only light coming from those candles and the Christmas tree. My sister would play the piano for a carol sing, and perform one solo number. My brother would play along on his trumpet and do a solo as well. I was much younger than they were so I got the job of reading the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night…”
Each year we would plan the service and type up a program complete with Christmassy drawings that my dad had mimeographed for our audience of two (my parents). He was the choir director at our church at the time, so putting on programs and events like this was second nature to us as a family. Only this time it was our chance as kids to do it entirely on our own. We prided ourselves in getting no help with this. I honestly think I looked forward to this more than Christmas morning.
It was all a big deal because it was all so magical. The candlelight, the music, and the holy nature of the moment made it more liturgical than church. Simple everyday things became holy, and what was holy became simple. This was indeed “high church,” before I knew what high church was – our best offering in return for the best gift given to us on that first Christmas. It was better than church because it was our church. We owned it from start to finish. It was far from perfect, but I believe God received it as the most perfect gift possible. Just like He receives our worship today in our thoughts, our memories, our giving and receiving, and our gratitude.
John Fischer The Catch 
Your description of your Christmas Eve service reminds me of an impromptu “live nativity” that I coerced my siblings and visiting cousin (and the family dog) to perform one year. (1964 maybe?) Costumes were bathrobes with towels draped over our heads barely held there with rope. We tried to attach horns to the dog to turn him into a cow, but when that failed, we settled for tying kneesocks to his ears when he was the donkey, then draping his body with a fuzzy white blanket and pronouncing him a sheep. We added a pillow underneath to turn him into a camel for Act II when the wise men (“man” in our case, but he “entered” 3 times). There were frequent costume changes as there were only 4 of us (counting the poor dog) to play all the roles. My older brother would only agree to drape himself unceremonious over a chair and read the Christmas story as we acted it out. Throughout the entire performance, my youngest cousin (then about 2 years old), kept stealing “baby Jesus” (it was her doll, after all) from our makeshift manger (a basket lined with a string mophead for “hay”). We ended our play with a rather off-key acapella rendition of Silent Night. My dad filmed the production (it’s a silent film, unfortunately, or FORTUNATELY, considering how bad the singing was) and for years after, watching our “movie” because part of our Christmas celebration. I still have the reel in its round metal container. Maybe I’ll see if the old projector still works and show it again this year … Thanks for the memories, John!
Would like to add to this: “Just like He receives our worship today in our thoughts, our memories, our giving and receiving, and our gratitude.” Not only an Amen, yet also a very big thanks to Jesus, my Lord & to Pastor John and all of his loved ones – I throughy enjoyed reading and was blessed by today’s Catch… 🙂