A Small Town Christmas

At last! Tomorrow will be the day
when our little church has its Christmas play.
Girls and boys, men, women, too,
will deliver lines in quaint costumes.

Shepherds and wisemen will walk the aisle
to center front then stop and smile.
'The King is born!' will be the story
of the infant Babe Who came from glory.

Tiny tots with fluffy stuff
will be the lambs and sweet cherubs.
A star will shine and candles glow
when we perform our Christmas show.

Grandmas will "Ooh!" and gramps will grin
to see their grandkids marching in.
"Away in a Manger" was never so good
as it will be tomorrow in our neighborhood.

We'll greet the visitors left and right
and hope the play will be 'outta sight!'
in a way that will bring happy claps and cheers,
enough to last through all the new year.

Oh, yes, I'm sure there will be some flubs,
goofs that turn cousins into giggling bubs.
They'll snicker and point breaking into a laugh
when shepherd Pete Jones trips over his staff.

And probably there will be many a tease
when King Richie Newman erupts with a sneeze
that rattles the rafters as he takes his turn,
trekking to Bethlehem from the next room.

Tomorrow is it. All the practice is done.
The music will rise as the story is sung.
And somewhere far deep in the depths of our souls,
the glory of Christmas will rise. It will flow.

Amid all the flurry of costume and pageant
A holiness greater than we can imagine
Will visit our church, settle into our hearts
for that is where Christmas, God's Gift, truly starts.

The love Jesus brought, the joy that He brings,
Is the melody every heart here truly sings.
Yes, tomorrow our evening of pageant will say,
"It's Christmas again in Small Town USA."