When she drove by a neighbor’s house and saw a giant wooden Snoopy display, she said the idea hit her: create a life-sized nativity scene.
Last year Ritter enlisted the help of Loren Cooper, a relative and retired carpenter. She painted the scene, and he cut it. After putting it in her yard, Ritter, 77, said she thought, “It’s worth it if one person gets the true meaning behind Christmas.”
Five minutes later, she said a man drove by slowly and stopped his car.
“He rolled down his window and said, ‘God that’s beautiful.’ And, he said, ‘You know what you did? You just brought back the true meaning of Christmas.’ I almost cried,” Ritter said.
Scripted on a painted scroll near the scene is the following: “May the star that shines ever so bright illuminate your heart with God’s light. And may he bless you no matter how near or far, and love you just for the person you are.”
Anyone that knows her, Ritter said, knows that she has a passion for Christmas.
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