AuthorElder Sarah Middleton |
This is a 2021 Christmas Testimony, sort of. But it started in November. No, the background actually started over a year earlier. In 2020, COVID-19 arrived in the midwestern USA. The highly communicable disease had been wreaking havoc around the world and both coasts of the US, but here in the Midwest it was, mostly, business as usual until early 2020. |
In February or March of 2020 it arrived and businesses and churches were closed, many workers moved to working from home instead of the office, and masks were worn everywhere. People with certain medical conditions were encouraged to avoid contact with anyone that could be sick, and the method of delivering healthcare changed drastically. And, did I say “churches closed”?
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Churches closed. As frightening as that statement sounds, it was the best practice. In an effort to protect the “most vulnerable among us”, churches closed. Churches, where people hug and shake hands and greet each other warmly and closely, support each other in the journey and encourage one another, closed. Of course, when everything closed down, most of us thought it would be a few weeks, maybe a month or 2 at most, but certainly not longer than that. What we thought of as a few week hiatus turned into months.
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And when November arrived, with no return to meeting in person on the horizon, we faced a Christmas without church services. My husband, Gary, told me he felt strongly the congregation needed an option to celebrate Christmas Eve “together”. He recruited Ruth Humbert and me to help him create an “online” service that could be streamed on Christmas Eve as a way for the congregation to worship together for Christmas. Several in the congregation were enlisted to help and were recorded so their ministry could be included in the service. The service seemed to be well accepted, so in October of 2021 Gary, Ruth and I began discussing the possibility of streaming another Christmas Eve service. We still had a few members who, for a variety of reasons, were not able to return to in-person services, and the need Gary had sensed the year before still existed. So planning began.
We discussed trying to see if Santa and Mrs. Claus would be available to be a part of the service, and decided that if they could, we should have a story for them to read. Ruth said to me, “you should write one” and suggested something along the style of Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore. Unsure of what I would come up with, I began to think of what I could write that would serve the purpose we wished.
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I have always loved the image and stories of Santa kneeling at the manger. I know some people find it incongruent to have Santa as a part of the celebration of the birth of Christ, but to me it has always made sense. According to early tradition, the original “Santa” was Saint Nicholas, a bishop in the 4th century. If this is the case, Santa would have worshiped Jesus Christ. Whether he did or not, I see no problem with the idea that Santa could worship God and kneel at the feet of His son. So, with the idea in hand, I began writing. Over the next few weeks, I carried a notebook with me, adding lines, editing rhymes and lines to create rhymes.
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Mrs & Santa Claus reading Sarah's book at the Topeka Community of Christ Christmas Eve Online worship Service.
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Eventually, I had the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, told by Santa. Santa and Mrs. Claus were able to drop by the church to be recorded for the service, so I took the story to Walgreens and turned it into a photo book (without illustrations or photos) so they could read Twas a Night Like No Other.
Mrs Claus - Elder Linda Houseman
Santa Claus - Elder Woody Houseman |
My family, including Santa and Mrs. Claus, encouraged me to publish my story. For Christmas I was gifted books on how to publish children’s books. I was not against the idea, but was unsure. It was not illustrated and I am not gifted in drawing. A couple of family members are, but they were not available to help. I was stymied. Gary, however, solved the problem. Gifted in art and digital art, he illustrated the book for Mother’s Day. Like everything he does, it was fantastic. Completed book in hand, I once again made a trip to Walgreens to create a new photo book, complete with cover and illustrations, to send our grandchildren for Christmas. Santa and Mrs. Claus read the story in a congregation of a different denomination the next December, and again in our own the next, in person this time. I was repeatedly encouraged to publish the book.
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Still uncertain exactly how to do that, I was home sick one day in January of 2024 and saw a commercial for Covenant Publishing. Uncharacteristically, I called. By October it was published. The editing process with the publisher was beneficial in making me re-examine how I chose to tell the story and the message it carries. While I think I likely frustrated some editors, I was reminded of the power of, not only the written word, but also of punctuation and capitalization in telling a story and creating emphasis (Yes, I am aware – I just got even more nerdy).
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Being naturally shy (I know, hard to believe), especially about what appears to be a personal achievement, it has been hard for me to publicize and market the story. But we are finding there is a ministry and a witness with it. Showing the book to people has sparked some interesting conversations and the opportunity to witness to people and in ways that would have never been possible without it. And what I am coming to understand is that the book is not a personal achievement of mine or Gary’s. Rather, it is a gift from God and a ministry to share. It is His story. And it is a testimony. And I am thankful to be a part of it.
Would you like to purchase a copy of this book?
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Staying true to the traditional story of the birth of Jesus, 'Twas a Night Like No Other adds delightful animals, sweet illustrations, and a surprise storyteller! Melding all elements into the beloved story of the first Christmas, 'Twas a Night Like No Other will leave the hearts of both young and old smiling with that warm and fuzzy feeling of childhood Christmas.
--Sarah Middleton Illustrations designed by Gary Middleton |
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