Preparing for Christmas

For those of us who are parents, most can remember the moments we first saw our children whether they were our own or adopted. We were filled with indescribable emotion.

For those who have adopted, from what I understand, the emotion is usually a combination of nervousness, joy, protection, apprehension, and an overwhelming sense of..."finally the wait is over".  Next comes the paperwork, and until those documents are signed there is always a chance the hopeful adoptive parents and child would have to part ways.

All of my life, I've been surrounded by adoptions and have five in our family circle.  I have friends who have adopted and have counted down the days with them.  All you can do is wait...and pray.

For those of us who have given birth to our own children, we all have similar emotions while waiting but we also wonder who the baby will look like. Some of us secretly hope that the child will look like "our side of the family".  But all of us hope for a healthy baby and we count all fingers and toes when the baby finally makes his or her appearance.

I used to stare at our babies.  I would study their faces and imagine what they would look like when grown up.  I would dream of conversations I would have in raising a little lady.  I would also think of all the ways I would teach our son to be a gentleman.

Imagine Mary and Joseph.

They had both waited for the coming of the Messiah.  They had heard the prophecies. They had heard the songs and the poems. They expected so much of the promised King.

Now they were told the Messiah would come, but arrive as an infant.

Imagine Mary and Joseph.

Imagine their anticipation as to who the Child would look like. Would he look like any other infant?

The baby boy is born, Son of God.  The waiting for the Messiah was over.  Mary and Joseph counted fingers and toes.  But what now?  How long before this Child is no longer theirs?  Joseph is now the adoptive father. Do you think they knew the boy Mary delivered would be the One who delivers them both?

Can you imagine waiting as parents..."until further notice"?

I certainly couldn't.

From the book Why the Nativity? by David Jeremiah


Question #13

"Why did Jesus come as a baby?"

He writes:

"In that regard, we have seen that the Virgin Birth is the sign of his [Jesus] divinity. He comes to the earth from outside, pure and clean, and is in no way a product of this world. Now we see that, in the same way, the infancy of the Child is the sign of his humanity.  He is one of us in every way. He arrives from heaven with perfection and godliness of which no man or woman is capable -- yet he takes the full human journey, which even God in heaven had not taken. How could we follow his footsteps as a man if we hadn't seen him crawl as a child? How could we believe he had undergone all the temptation we have faced if he had bypassed the most difficult years in which we struggle to earn our adulthood?

To make the full sacrifice on our behalf, Jesus had to make the full commitment."

Wow.

Get the book Why the Nativity? to read the rest of David Jeremiah's words.


Next:  Why the shepherds?





   Here is the link from Amazon.











Blessings for your day,