Our Journey Is Almost Over…..

Part 3 A Christmas Not Planned For

So I write this sitting in a comfy chair at the vet’s office…..2 hours away from my house on Christmas Day. For Milla woke up this morning sick and the closest emergency vet is in Charleston. I didn’t plan on spending at least 3 hours in the car today and no telling how long in the vet’s office, but here I sit.

But could there be a more appropriate way to share the latest installment of the Christmas story than being somewhere you didn’t plan on being and a time you sure didn’t plan on being there either.

As we know by now Mary was extremely pregnant and they had traveled to Bethlehem for the census. I’m sure Joseph, like any good husband, had made reservations at the best Inn in town….but being how crowded it was, somehow his reservation got cancelled. Either way, they ended up out back…..in the only place available…a stable of such, most likely a cave where the animals slept.

And at course, at the most opportune time, Baby Jesus decided he was ready to come out and play.

Now what we need to really get through our heads is that Jesus, the Savior of the world, was born in one of the worst places imaginable. Animals everywhere. Hay and straw. Mud. Mold. Probably spiders, mice….and the overwhelming smell of animal manure. Our Savior came into this world, to save us all, in completely horrendous conditions.

I’ve been present at the birth of my two children, and I can’t imagine what that could have been like. But it did happen, and Jesus did come to Earth in the worst possible way.

The most amazing part is that he went through that and so many other horrible things for us. And not by accident, but on purpose, because of God’s ultimate plan to have a true relationship with us.

So as you sit wherever you are today, and you enjoy your new gadgets and “stuff,” once again I will just try and offer a friendly reminder of why today exists. And even though we are able to enjoy time with our families and everything that comes along with it….take a moment and think about what today truly means.

It’s a day of new birth. A day the pathway to redemption began. One day closer to Jesus’ death on the cross for all of humanity’s sake. And a day we can celebrate because Jesus the Savior began his human journey for all of us.

Merry Christmas to all.