Thanksgiving and Christmas come wrapped in tradition. Turkey with all the trimmings. Family, fun, and football. Christmas trees, cookies, and caroling. We celebrate in different ways, but we all long for meaningful memories and traces of the transcendent.
Is there a way to find that? Especially when our special ways of celebration get interrupted by unexpected life changes.
Giving birth to our son on Christmas Eve changed our plans—and our lives—significantly. But it also gave me a much deeper appreciation of what really happened that first Christmas night.
“Birth Pains” is my gift to you. May it bring hope and comfort to those going through hard times. God knows and cares.
Birth Pains
Do we really think Emmanuel
slid silently into our world
on a quiet, peaceful night?
My firstborn came
crying, kicking, gasping for air
as I shivered and shook,
exhausted from panting, pushing, praying.
Was Christ’s coming less labored?
Or do we sterilize the stable,
sentimentalize the saga,
and ceremonialize the incarnation
to minimize the birth pains
Father, mother, and baby suffered as
God stripped Himself of glory that night . . .
giving, grieving, groaning
to be one with us . . .
so we could be one with Him?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16, NKJV. God’s birth pains offer us eternal life. There is no greater gift!