Shepherd's Field

There are some fields not too far from Bethlehem that are thought to be where the shepherds were when they saw the angel that declared Christ's birth....

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2)

We went with some friends of ours to visit the place overlooking where this was said to have happened. It was getting pretty dark as we arrived. We all sat together on a blanket and sang Christmas carols from the hymnbook. They take on a whole new meaning when you're overlooking the very place that the songs were written about. There are still shepherds who tend their sheep in these fields.



Joni just kind of wandered around and played with rocks.

A video overlooking Bethlehem

Just as we were leaving, Joni started yelling, "Look! Look! There's the star!!!" Sure enough, there was ONE star in the sky, right over Bethlehem. There wasn't a single other star in the whole sky except this one bright one. I hurried and took a picture, and as we finished walking to the car, Tom noticed that the star was fading behind the clouds.

It was incredible.

Merry Christmas everybody!