The Shepherd Boy's Star When Jesus’s birth was announced to the shepherds, they made their way from the hills of Judea to seek out the new born child. He had been born in a stable in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. As they journeyed, they wondered what they might offer this Child of Christ, as a token of their homage. One shepherd planned to give a woolly sheepskin to keep the baby warm; another decided to give a container of nourishing sheep’s milk. But the youngest shepherd boy felt he had nothing to give. The journey was long and took several days. One night as he lay down to sleep on a bale of straw, a beam of light probably from the star of Bethlehem, shone onto a stalk of straw. He was inspired. He would make a star from straw to present to the baby. He took a shepherd’s knife from his pocket and immediately got to work, cutting the stalks to even lengths and binding them together with a loose length of wool pulled from his jacket. When they arrived at the stable in Bethlem the shepherd boy proudly presented the straw star to baby Jesus and was rewarded with a beautiful smile which he treasured in his heart.