Our parade float last week was the shepherds being directed to find the new born baby Jesus. We had a huge angel ready to go, we had shepherds large and small, we had a float covered with float paper, a sign, music, peppermint handouts and a truck, but two hours before we did not have any sheep. Someone wanted a sheep. What are all these shepherds doing? What is keeping them in the field. If we have shepherds, we need sheep.
Live sheep seemed out of the question. So what could we substitute? We went to TSA wondering if they had any stuffed animals that might look like sheep. They had darling little cows, unicorns and a few chickens, but no sheep. We went to Walmart. They had lots of stuffed animals, but no sheep. We finally found a couple of sheep, but they were the size of Guinea pigs, so they would not help fill up the float.
I started to brainstorm. I looked for a coat that I could turn inside out that was filled with that curly fake fur that is inside some winter jackets. I started trying to figure out how to create a sheep costume for my dogs. I could not find any of those coats. I abandoned the idea quickly. My dogs would never stand to wear a costume.
We decided to make sheep. I looked up a picture. Three things define a sheep: fluffy body, hanging down ears, and a black face. We grabbed pillow stuffing for the bodies. We snatched up goggly eyes. Then I thought of stuffing big black socks for the faces. I headed to find socks, but stopped at house shoes. There was an animal foot shoe. It had three big talons sticking out the front. I turned it upside down. I folded it in the middle. I imagined the eyes. I needed three sheep, so I grabbed two pair. I meant to grab socks for the ears, but I was panicky about the time.
We rushed home. In a flurry I cut off the toe and glued it in place as a nose, I got the hot glue and attached the eyes. I stuffed the inside of the shoe to form the ridge of the face. I grabbed some of Cindy’s socks and zipped tied them on for ears (she is expecting me to return them). We took the batting out of the plastic and wrapped it with string to keep its shape together. Then I pushed a dowel rod through the fluffy batting and into the shoe and hot glued on the head.
We arrived at the parade with just a few minutes to spare. The shepherds were happy. It was right to have sheep on the float. That is why the angel was there. That is why Jesus was there.
The shepherds at Bethlehem were not raising pets, but sacrifices. They provided them to the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s no wonder that Jesus was born there among the other sacrifices. He was adorable, but the life laid out before him ended in suffering. As John said, Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).