Dear Family,
Adriel
seemed upset when she looked at our manger scene on the 20th. “Why is Jesus in the manger?” Half of the people understood why this was so
wrong. The other half were a bit
confused until we explained that tradition.
“He wasn’t born yet.” It was fun
for Adriel to also admit that we don’t know the real birthdate exactly
anyway. I did have to smile about all
the confusion.
During
dinner, Bobby’s sister seemed to be choking a little. She whispered to Bobby, “Hit me.” Bobby gladly came over and thumped her a
couple of times. Finally, she was able
to swallow better. Bobby said, “It’s not
often I get to hit my sister.”
Bobby
and I celebrated Christmas day with the Duval family. I requested ahead of time to take photos of
individual families because I have been praying for them with pictures from
before Sam was born, 17 years ago. They
complied and now I have shiny new pictures to use. How fun that one family wanted to recreate
the old picture, closed eyes and all.
That’s why I have posted the Kuykendall photo. They have such a fun spirit in them.
Seth
stayed home with a cough and Adriel enjoyed working at the Skate shop. She said it had the, “Perfect Christmas
vibes, Very mellow.” They grilled steak,
hotdogs and burgers. Yum!
Work
on Friday was nice and went quickly. I truly
enjoyed contemplating Jesus birth this year with friends during our break time. We brought to the table thoughts like, “Did
you know the shepherds were probably not men, they were teen boys or even
younger. Can you imagine the excitement
they brought to the manger?” “I feel so
sorry for Mary, her mom wasn’t there during the birth. I was really glad my mom was present.” (One person said Mary’s mother was dead – the
catholic tradition.) I was thinking they
had a broken relationship. Either way,
how sad that the Bible doesn’t mention any grandparent relationship between
Jesus and Mary or Joseph’s parents. Also.
some celebrate the Solstice as the day the wise men visited and this was the
first time non-Jewish people were introduced to the Christ Child. Such wonder and excitement Mary must have
felt. Such mixed emotions as they were
turned away for no room in the inn.
I remember while
checking into the hospital leaning over a bit and someone said, “Get her off
the carpet.” Poor Mary – the Innkeepers
might have only been thinking of the mess she was going to make. Did she have a Dr. or a midwife? No mention – but she did have God and the
knowledge that Jesus wasn’t just going to thrive as a baby – he was going to
rule the world as an adult. I might not
have brought Adriel to the emergency room for her first cold if I knew she was
destined to grow up queen.
So
many of our own child bearing stories weave into the day Jesus was born. We consider the depth of first time parenthood
and feel with and for Mary. Oh, what a
hard time. May you also weave your
stories in with His. May you find joy as
you consider God’s hand in your life through Christ and may you rejoice that He
did it! Our Lord came to earth. Wow,
Love and hugs, Cristy
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