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The icy breath billowed from for the cows pastured in the nearby field. Even though Mama had warmed a blanket by the fire and rushed to wrap my feet with it when I jumped in the bed, just the thought of the cold, icy nighttime made me shiver.

I was almost nine years old. Plenty old enough to go out on a cold, winter’s night.

So, when I heard the clock strike midnight, I was going to put on my shoes and coat, go stand by the fence and see for myself a Christmas miracle that my granny so often told me about.

This is what she said.

On that first Christmas Eve night so long ago, the Baby Jesus was born in a cold, cold barn in a place called Bethlehem.

People all over the world had been waiting for the Baby Jesus to be born my granny said, but they didn’t have radios so God sent an angel to let everybody know that the Baby Jesus had been born.

Shepherds were out in the fields so they were the first ones to see the Angel of the Lord and to know.

All of a sudden there was this bright light in the sky and ab the angel just came out of nowhere and told the shepherds that the Baby Jesus had been born and they hurried off to see him.

We had learned about that in Sunday school. But what our Sunday school teacher didn’t tell us was the best part about the night the Baby Jesus was born.

People all over the world had been waiting for the Baby Jesus to be born, my granny said.  But it was not just people that were waiting. The animals all over the world were waiting, too.

So, when the animals heard the Baby Jesus’ birth cry, they welcomed Him into the world with their special sounds. The cows mooed. The horses whinnied. Donkeys brayed. Wolves howled. Lions roared. Mice squeaked and the elephant trumpeted his welcome.

I could image what that must have been like, all the animals welcoming the Baby Jesus with their special sounds, but it was not a noisy racket. All of their special sounds blended together to make the most beautiful music that was heard all over the world.

Then, all of the animals got down on their knees to worship the Baby Jesus. All over the world, the animals knelt together. What a wonderful sight must have been, the baby lamb kneeling right next to a big lion. That was because the Baby Jesus brought love and peace to the world, my granny said.

That’s what happened at midnight on the first Christmas Eve. My granny said, from that night on, every year at midnight on Christmas Eve, all of the animals all over the world kneel to worship Jesus Christ the Savior of the World.

In my child’s mind, that was the most wonderful thought of Christmas –all the animals kneeling to worship a little baby called Jesus.

More than Sandy Claus coming, I wanted to see the animals kneeling in worship.

And, maybe I did venture out on that cold, dark Christmas Eve or, perhaps, it was just a dream that warmed my heart on that night so long ago.

And, it will be once again, on Christmas Eve 2020 as I stand in the icy cold in anticipation of the miracle at midnight.