King's Daughter's Kitchen

We celebrate Christmas with the story of Baby Jesus, presents, and a big homemade meal, usually dozens of tamales and bowls of pozole that the women have fussed over for days. It’s what happens after, on January 6th, the visit of the Magi, that is special to me.

The night before the Magi, Bathasar, Casper, and Melchior, visit our home following the star on their way to Bethlehem, the children prepare. We adults only help them.

The Magi brought gifts to the child Jesus, not to grown ups. So, what comes next is for the next generation. Our children do not believe in the world’s Santa Claus. They know the value of the gifts of the Magi… gold-representing Jesus’s Kingship (Daniel 7:13-14), frankinsence- representing Jesus’s Deity that he was fully God and fully man (Leviticus 2:2 and Colossians 2:9-10), and myrrh- foreshadowing Jesus’s death (John 19:38-40). They hope the Magi leave something good for them.

The kids put their shoes outside the door. They fill the shoes full of hay for the camels and each leave a large bucket of water. For the Magi, they leave figs and dates, blankets, and an offering to take to Baby Jesus. Then, they go to bed and wait to see what the Magi leave them in the morning.

Some time in the night, Magi come and take what they have left. They pray over the offering. The camels eat the hay and make hoof marks in the dirt.

The Magi leave gifts in their shoes. I have known them to leave gold wrapped chocolate, cologne, cinnamon cookies, shiny harmonicas, hair ribbons, small, high bouncy balls, yo-yos,  and all manner of treats that seem to delight little people the next morning. It’s not about the size of the shoe or the cost of the gift. It’s about tradition, joy, and making memories with our children. We try our best to remind them who they are, where they come from, and that they are loved by a God whose divine nature is love every chance we get. We teach them to imitate the Magi, setting their life’s compass on the King, telling others about Him on their journey, bringing an offering of service, and bowing at His feet in worship.