Advent Book: The Crippled Lamb

As we prepare our hearts for the coming of our King, the girls and I have been reading some fun stories. I've collected Christmas/advent books throughout the year when I spot them at garage sales or St. Vinney's. It's great to have a stash of "new" books to bring out during this time of waiting.

The Crippled Lamb, by Max Lucado was passed down to us by my husband's grandmother. It's a story about a little lamb named Joshua who has a limp leg. He feels left out because he can't run and jump around with the other lambs. Since he is too weak to make the journey to the new meadow, he is sent to the stable for the night. God had a special plan for Joshua that night.

It's a tender-loving story with beautiful oil painting illustrations by Liz Bonham. The illustrations of baby Jesus are adorable. A cute, bright-eyed little infant nestled in the hay. My three year old just loves this book. Parts of the book are repetitive, (the story focuses quite a bit on Joshua's feelings of being left out and sad) but over all this book is a keeper. I like that the lamb is not cured at the end of the story, but rather realizes why he was born with a crippled leg. He realizes his "vocation" is to be among the first to welcome Jesus into the world.

The stable was dark except for a small lamp hanging on the wall.

"Somebody is in here," Josh whispered.

They looked across the dimly lighted stable. There, lying on some fresh hay in the feed box, was a baby.

Sweet baby Jesus and Joshua the lamb

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