Note: Please note this manger features natural marks, discolorations, and inconsistencies, making it a lower-cost option for those looking for a manger with a few imperfections.  Additionally, this item includes only the manger, and the Cradle-to-Cross Wreath is sold separately.

Introduce a new tradition to your family this Christmas with the Messiah Manger, a carefully crafted cherry wood manger stained with linseed oil. Each day, starting on December 1st, remove the star from the manger and give it to a family member to perform an act of kindness.

Once the kindness is given, add straw to the manger and pass the star on to the next family member. As the manger fills with straw, your Christmas preparations will be filled with love and the spirit of giving. On Christmas Eve, replace the star atop the manger and celebrate the coming of the Greatest Gift.

The Messiah Manger now has a companion children's Christmas story, "The Light Gift" that can be purchased here.

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Leora, a young shepherdess girl who is on a mission to visit her father and sisters who are taking care of the sheep in the hills, but along the way, she stops to help those in need, despite her hurry, because she hears in her heart the song of "Stay on the way, and treat everyone as you would the Coming King." Leora makes her way to the hills, but she’s too late: her little lamb has already come. On the night of the Christ's birth, Leora and her family are awoken by angels and hurry to the manger, where it is quite dark.

Leora gives the light of her lamp, to light the darkness, and in doing so she sees the Holy Family, with the evidence of the acts of kindness she had done on her way to the hills. These acts of kindness had been passed on to the Holy Family on their journey to Bethlehem.

The story is accompanied by bottom margin artwork throughout the story that shows the Holy Family's travels and indirect reception of Leora’s kindness via the people she helps. Additionally, for extra fun, there's a little hidden hedgehog on each page for both kids and adults alike to seek out as they read along.