Merry Christmas

Last year at this time I was living in Oregon with the farm for sale and I was wondering if I would spend the next Christmas in Minnesota.  Now that year has gone by so quickly and here we are, nothing short of miraculous and I find myself forgetting how much God really has done for my family.  I was telling a friend the story of our move and I knew I wasn't remembering some details so I went back to my the move stories and reminded myself and thanked the Lord once again for all He has done, not just in the last year but in the last 9 years.

I was thinking the other day about Jesus being born in a stable, which I would assume is just like a barn.  I know our barn in Oregon was always very stinky, sometimes I just could not stand to be in there if the boys hadn't cleaned it.  I'm sure they didn't have pressure washers and nice shovels to clean the stables back in Bible times.  And I thought about having my children in a clean hospital with medication and comforts.  I wondered how Mary did it!  I have always thought Jesus birth was some huge deal back then with a bright warm holy light surrounding the clean stable with the softest hay and clean cloths to wrap Him in, isn't that how the Christmas songs make it seem?  And a choir of angels to soothe baby Jesus..... You don't think about the details of what a birth is, when you think of Christmas.

Then I thought, you know, I bet it was your average birth, no one brought Mary a hot meal after, it was probably a pretty horrible experience in a barn.  They were young and alone.  That stable had to be dirty and cold.  But I think that is how God works, He takes the average, unassuming person and situation and makes it His own.  It was a quiet night. 



I am so thankful that Jesus was born just to be a sacrifice for us.  It is overwhelming to think about.  I am so grateful!  Have a very Merry Christmas!