A Baby Changes Everything

I love Faith Hill’s song, “A Baby Changes Everything”. It is so true – especially when that growing little baby inside the Mama’s womb is getting new body parts and new features week by week while the Mama’s body is changing on the outside and inside.

God's glorious birthing plan! Please don’t try to convince me that little being isn’t a baby. I know otherwise. From the very beginning, God had a plan for that little darling’s future. I know that from my own experience. I also know it as I delight in following a precious, young couple’s FB posts. Their prayers to conceive were answered and now I rejoice with them as I watch the radiant, exuberate mama taking pride and joy in showing the growth of her tummy bump week after week. Literally, a baby is changing everything about their lives.

Every day I send short, early morning text messages to my four darlings (my two and their spouses). Nostalgia consumed me as I sent my son’s text message yesterday. While looking for photos to display for my daughter’s recent birthday, I found a treasure in an envelope. The treasures you see here. I sent this message to my son: “Look what I came across. Your original birth certificate and the baby bracelet you wore in the nursery. And on the top right corner of the birth certificate is our home address. I looked it up on Zillow. Daddy and I had to move out of our one-bedroom apartment to this sweet little 800 sq.ft., 2-bedroom, one bath house that could accommodate a baby boy coming to live with us. We had your room all decorated before you were born. I would go in there and savor the smell of your baby clothes and picture that precious little baby coming into our life. It was the sweetest little house. We lived there until dad’s uncles helped us to get into one of their trade-in homes for one of their houses. We paid $7500 for that one. We were officially homeowners. Just a reminder of how blessed I’ve been with you, my sweet son. We’ve spent a long time together. Lots of sweetest memories to hold onto. Oh, the joy you brought to us. Thanks for going with me on a trip down Memory Lane this morning. I love you so much!” That little boy did change everything in our lives.

Speaking of a baby changing everything -- the birth of Jesus changed our world. The One who was born in a Bethlehem stable came here to Planet Earth to make every heart His home. And, it is our privilege as followers of Jesus to share the amazing good news of His love with our broken world in every way we can. That’s why I write a daily blog to partner with you in spreading the Good News that came with the birth of that sweet little Holy Child – lying in a manger -- Who was our Lord and Savior in the making.

At the end of her Christmas song, Faith Hill testifies, "My whole life has turned around, I was lost but now I'm found, a baby changes everything." Doesn’t that compel you to want to help as many people as you can so that their lives turn around from lost to found? Let’s be a bearer of “Good tidings of great joy to all people"! The Lord has come so everyone can experience the transforming love of Jesus! Gloria in excelsis deo!

The Twelve Days of Christmas – MERRY CHRISTMAS!

TToday is December 30th – which means it’s the 6th day of Christmas. A few days ago, upon my return home from Austin, I said in my post that I was going to start taking down my Christmas décor the next day. The inspiration came when my Austin Family were heading out of town for several days and they wanted to come home to a back-to-normal atmosphere. It would feel great for them not to face the de-Christmasing of their home upon return. We pitched in and succeeded!

That was my plan, too, until my BFF, Sheila Michie, commented on my post "Enjoy all 12 days of Christmas -- today's only the 4th day!" I checked out what she said, and it was true!! We’re still in the 12 Days of Christmas!! I quickly posted a retraction that I was holding off to savor in the flavors and favors of Christmas until the end of the 12 days. Here is the result of my research:

The "12 Days of Christmas" are the 12 days between Christmas Day, December 25th, the birth of Jesus, and January 6th, Epiphany -- the day Christians celebrate the arrival of the Magi (Wise Men) and the revelation of Christ as the Light of the world.

During the 15th to 18th centuries in England, it was a crime to be Catholic and they were prohibited from any practice of their faith by law -- private or public. Anyone caught with religious books or writings would be severely punished -- imprisonment, hanging or a beheaded. The song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” was written during that time of religious persecution. It was a kind of secret summary and memory tool of the principles of Christian beliefs that could be sung in public without fear of arrest.

In the song, the "true love" mentioned doesn't refer to an earthly lover. It refers to the "True Love" of God the Father, the greatest Giver. The “me” who receives the gift refers to all believers in Christ. Christ is presented as a mother partridge who fakes injury to lure predators from her helpless nestlings, much in memory of the expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me..." Matthew 23:37.

Each line in the song is a code word for a religious truth:

1. The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus.

2. The two turtledoves are the Old and New Testaments.

3. Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.

4. The four calling birds are the four Gospels.

5. The five gold rings recall the Hebrew Torah (Law), or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament.

6. The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation.

7. The seven swans a-swimming represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

8. The eight maids a-milking are the eight Beatitudes.

9. The nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.

10. The ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments.

11. Eleven pipers piping represent the eleven faithful Apostles.

12. Twelve drummers drumming symbolize the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles Creed.

The Twelve Days of Christmas give us a reason to celebrate and exchange gifts. This old-fashioned approach to gift-giving eventually gave way to today's practice of exchanging gifts on Christmas Day.

So, I'm back to breathing in the "Oh Holy Night" of Christmas for a few more days. I'll bask in the 12 Days of Christmas – savoring the atmosphere as long as I can. I've resisted the urge to run out to the After-Christmas sales. As a matter of fact, the cold weather beckons the fireplace to be blazing, wearing the cozy attire and staying inside to experience THE Presence of Emmanuel -- God with us. I'm having a loving affair with the Lover in the song, and the Partridge in the Pear Tree. I'm journaling, reading, and embracing the moments, while preparing for a new year of serving, loving and giving. I pray that you, too, are experiencing Christmas peace and joy a few more days.

In the words of Paul Harvey…..”and now you know the REST of the STORY!" You’re welcome!

A Child is Born and Child-Like Faith

A Child is Born and Child Like Faith

One of my fondest memories, as a child, was memorizing a Christmas poem for my church’s Children’s Christmas Program. It may have been the simplest of words “Christmas is a time of joy. It started with a baby boy. He came to save us from our sins. Won’t you let him be your friend?” But those words resonated in my young soul. It meant practicing our poems and the songs we would sing at the program, as well as getting our costumes made or borrowed for the Nativity Play. Then the big night came when I, along with the other children, would sing in the Children’s Choir and hold up acrostic letters that spelled J-E-S-U-S and recite our poems that themed the birth of Jesus. There would always be a re-enactment of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem, arriving at the stable, placing a baby doll in the manger and the angels appearing to the shepherds. Then the grand finale came when the shepherds and wise men bowed down and worshiped the newborn king.

This exciting night of children being children with bloopers and blunders and little ones waving at their parents and boys with shirts untucked from their pants, that all culminated with the reward of a paper bag filled with an orange, an apple and hard candy for each child. It was the best reward EVER!

We got it right back then – everything exciting started and finished with the birth of Jesus. Maybe it was because I was a child with very few responsibilities. After all, I only had to memorize some lines in a poem and pose as an angel at the manger scene, but now I think, in the middle of the busyness, the to-do lists and a loaded up calendar, that we’re missing that simplistic approach to Christmas. Maybe I knew so much more than I do now. Because what I remember from those times, more than anything else, is the feeling of the wonder of realizing that sweet little baby boy, Jesus, came for me.

Maybe it’s because the older I get. the simpler I desire my life to be.. The reality that Jesus came for me and all He wanted in return was for me to love Him back, seems like the answer to it all. I started complicating things. Somehow, the Christmas story was more about what I do -- decorating my home to look like a Christmas Store, finding the perfect gifts, how well I can tie bows, making all my Christmas cookies, choosing the perfect outfit and making sure the table is set just right.

But the angels didn’t say, “Good news! You get to try hard. You get to wear yourself out. You get to make sure you have it all together.” Instead they declared: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. (Luke 2:10-11)

Great joy! A Savior! For us! This reminds me that the heart of Christmas has always been about two things: A child in a manger and childlike faith. I sang "Away in a Manger" with my childlike faith and I believed it. “I love Thee Lord Jesus, look down from the sky, and stay by my cradle till morning is nigh. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay, close by me forever, and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children, in Thy tender care and take us to Heaven to live with Thee there.”

Childlike faith is not about hustle; it’s about humility. It’s not about perfection; it’s about grace. It’s not about effort; it’s about extravagant love. Maybe we could all go back to the simpler, easier, less stressful way of celebrating this most beautiful night when Christ was born. Maybe we could sit in our living rooms on a silent night. Maybe we could read the story again and remember the version we understood long ago -- the one that’s still true today. Jesus came. We are loved. We love Him back. That is all that really matters.