Advent Week 3: The Animals
FROM THE DESK OF TL1 ASSISTANT FACILITATOR, ANDREA MARSHALL
This Advent reflection is part three of our four-part Advent reflection series for 2025 written by one of our four assistant facilitators. We invited each facilitator to choose a character from the story of Jesus’ birth that they resonated with on the journey. We hope each one provides you with beautiful starting points for reflecting with God in this season & perhaps encourages you to ponder which character in the Nativity story you feel drawn to as well.
P.S. If you are finding these outside of the Advent season, enjoy! They are wonderful reflections in all times of the year.
Room For A Little One
When the Thanksgiving day parade is over and the turkey is eaten, my family excitedly turns on the Christmas music, buys the tree, and hangs the lights! With the help of my children, we head to the basement and bring up the boxes of our favorite Christmas stories. We dust off our copy of The Christmas Carol, read through How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and turn the pages of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. We laugh at the memories these stories have given us and long to read through them all again.
In the midst of these stacks, there is one of our family's first and favorite Christmas books. It is a small tattered board book called “Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale” by Martin Waddell. The story follows the barn animals of the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus and Mary eventually lay down for the night and Mary births baby Jesus. We know this story well. The inn was full and they found themselves in a cold, dusty, soiled barn, as they welcomed Christ, the newborn King. Room for a Little One, centers around the animals. As Kind Ox settles in for the night in a stable next to an inn, Old Dog comes in looking for a warm place to sleep. Kind Ox welcomes Old Dog, who in turn makes room for Stray Cat, then Small Mouse–then Tired Donkey, led by Joseph and carrying Mary. The words are endearing and many nights after reading it, we would find my husband weeping with tears as we turned the final page.
"Come inside," Kind Ox said.
"There's always room for a little one here."
This was the refrain after every cold and tired animal found their way to the stable. “Come inside. There is always room for a little one here.” It is the refrain that is spoken as the old dog comes in looking for a warm place and it is the refrain that is spoken as Mary and Joseph pull up on their donkey “Come inside. There is always room for a little one here.”
In looking at advents past, I have often filled my space to the brim with the “chaos of Christmas.” My days have been packed with shopping and cooking and baking for our friends and family. I have been determined to make core memories for our kids that they will look back on with deep love and nostalgia. I have not been entirely present. I have not been particularly focused on making room for Christ, the newborn King and I have not been attentive about making room for others. I have been addicted to making lists and checking them twice.
If you are like me, maybe this Christmas season you need a new reminder, a short phrase to help focus your attention:
“Come inside. There is always room for a little one here.”
As you reflect on this phrase, I offer you an invitation to ponder and explore any or all of the following questions with God:
What does making room for Christ look like in the busyness of the Christmas season?
Is there a Spiritual practice you feel drawn to implementing that could help center your spirit around inviting Christ into your daily rhythm?
Is there a time in your day where you might be able to sit for even just a few moments and just picture the barn animals, moving over to make room?
Are there people in your life or community that might need a similar welcome; who might need an invitation to come inside and make room for?
When you pull up your Christmas playlist this year, I offer a new song to be added to the mix, Make Room by The Church will Sing. While we can still sing “Santa Claus is coming to town” as we check our lists, let’s also remember to make room for the most important little one who is also coming.