An invitation to a Manger scene for the Christ Child

This is not the ‘traditional’ nativity scene.
It is a place to come for remembering Loved Ones,

Here is a brief story of how our Manger came about, and why we are creating it again this year.

      My father passed away on a Christmas Eve morning, and the next year I dreaded that time.
Then I had an inspiration (maybe from above) to go to our stable and create a manger
where Mary & Joseph could come to have their baby. Our 3 donkeys lived out there,
so there would be room for their donkey also.
Various animals followed me. They felt something special was happening
and wanted to be a part of it, as were the animals in a stable long, long ago.
Afterwards I felt full of Happiness. That evening (the 24th) we went out there to celebrate the birth
of Jesus; and I felt Love, a feeling of Peace, and a sense of Closure.

      Last year we made some changes: Albert made a manger; we filled the area with straw and
sweet smelling hay, added lights, music, and straw bales to sit on. We wanted it to be a
special, quiet place where we - and our friends - could come and leave a remembrance note
to a loved one -- a family member, friend, or beloved pet.
In the following days our manger was filled with notes, cards, scraps of paper with messages,
some from complete strangers. Every time we went out there we felt there were Angles or ‘spirits’
filling our barn and bringing us comfort,
and it was a way of telling us that the loved ones we had lost were still with us.

      We would like to invite you to come and share a special, quiet time.  
If you can’t come and want to leave a note for a loved one,
please email it to macampbell1@earthlink.net and I will place it in the manger.  

Blessings this Christmas Season,
Albert & Marilyn Campbell

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because
there was no room for them in the inn." (St. Luke, II, 7.)
The very first Manger
Click on each picture
for a larger size