Happy Thanksgiving! What a great holiday...and depending how your family choses to celebrate it, it can be very different from the family's next door. Today I am grateful to have an amazing and loving family. How blessed we are to have 2 beautiful children and a great support system of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, as well as friends. Today we stop and give thanks for all that God has blessed us with.
And today I am thankful that my Lord and Savior chose to leave His perfect home and come to earth to be one of us, so that he could break the curse of sin. The journey for His arrival wasn't easy. We've been talking about Mary and Joseph having to travel so far away from home, near the time of Mary's delivery. Let's IMAGINE this part for just a moment...
Joseph is exhausted. His feet could possibly be bleeding from the rough terrain and walking over 100 miles. He probably kept them moving as much as possible, being nervous that Mary was so close to her time to give birth. He had to be mindful of the taxes he would have to pay when he arrived in Bethlehem, so they probably didn't have a lot of extra money, not that there were convenient stores along the way to stop and get refreshments. And then there is Mary...
Joseph has kept that stubborn, old donkey moving so they could make it to Bethlehem. But she's got questions. How much further? Where will they be staying when they get to the village? Will there be anyone to help her when the time comes to give birth? Will she have everything she needs to bring this child into the world? What is that pain that isn't going away? Should she tell Joseph that her time is getting near? Did God know this was how it was going to be? Didn't He want His son to have a place to be born that was warm and sanitary? Oh, those pains are growing closer. She remembers how it was for Elizabeth. She is going to need to get off this donkey soon.
But the crowd is huge. The inns are packed with people! Maybe Joseph began to panic a little. He promised Mary's family that he would take good care of her. What are they going to do? Do you think there was a moment when Joseph lifted his head up towards the heavens and cried out, "God, help me help Mary!" And finally, one Innkeeper didn't just shut the door, but he was kind and pointed out that there was cave for the animals out back that would be a great place to take shelter. Hurry, Joseph! This baby is coming....
Joseph gets Mary in there. Hopefully she can give him some instructions on how to help her during this process. Watching her in pain is terrible. He is praying that everything is going as it should. Maybe the Innkeeper's wife brought out some clean supplies. Joseph saw a feeding trough and emptied it out for when the baby would be here( It certainly wasn't an infant warmer like I had for when our firstborn came into this world.) The time is here. Mary's doing it! She's giving the world its long awaited Messiah...in a barn...filled with animals...on a hillside in the crowded village of Bethlehem. Would I have been able to give thanks for this journey? Would I have been grateful to have been chosen to bear this child into the world in this way? Finding joy in the journey is a personal choice. And as Mary and her husband looked down at the round cheeks of this Holy Child, I IMAGINE they were filled with nothing by joy at His arrival! And I IMAGINE that all of Heaven was watching. And I IMAGINE that the world was rejoicing at the arrival of EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US. Thank you, Lord. Hope had come.
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