Christmas Goat Getaway

by Ruth Storvik
(1986 Trinity Baptist Church, Nashua, Iowa)

The children in our small town church wanted live animals in their Sunday School Christmas Program Nativity play. The only live animal we could secure at the last minute was a goat. When he arrived at the church for the rehersal he was not interested in entering the building and fought a good fight eventually breaking loose and running off, successfully avoiding all attempts at capture. Everyone poured out of the church to try to track him down. Several blocks away the Chief of Police saw the runaway goat and stopped his police car to investigate, the goat promptly jumped into the car and would not get out of the drivers seat. Eventually the officer was able to regain his seat and set out to figure out where he came from. Seeing everyone out in the church yard he stopped to inquire of them as to the ownership of the goat who again was not interested in going into the church. The goat was finally corralled back into the truck and sent home. Obviously he was not in the cast of the play that Christmas!