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 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  -Luke 2:19

My heart has never been as full as when I gave birth to each of my children. It sounds cliché but giving birth is truly a miracle. The exhaustion of each pregnancy and the pain of childbirth climax to what I consider the greatest emotional experiences of my life, and I treasure each one of those memories.

I guess that’s why during the Christmas season,  I become this emotional mess who can’t help but cry when I witness a living nativity scene in a Christmas play or reread scripture about Christ’s birth. It’s all about that swaddled baby. Shepherds and Kings kneel at the foot of the manger and Angels worship the miracle of the Christ child. And I sit with tears welling up because I can relate to treasuring the blessing of birth and the three gifts God gave to me.

I cannot even fathom Mary’s emotions, and her pondering God’s choice to allow her to carry in her womb the miracle baby— the salvation to the world.

God chose the most inconvenient circumstances for Mary to have a baby. An unwed, teenage mother who has to live with the cultural shame of an unplanned pregnancy. This could have led to the end of young Mary’s future. Giving birth out of wedlock could have forced Mary into a life of begging and prostitution, as that was the risk in those cultural times. But God asked Mary and Joseph to have faith and trust in this unplanned event in their lives as His intentional promise to the world.It was a choice to see beyond their circumstances, and faith to understand God could bring hope and glory from having a baby.

I don’t know about you, but the birth of Christ, especially at this time of year, draws me to my knees in prayer.

We live in a world where babies are in the headlines of politically motivated news stories instead of in birth announcements. Where words like pregnancy, unplanned, and birth are overpowered by the word “choice.” Babies are too many times reflected in sentiments of being unwanted instead of desired or treasured.

While our society gets bolder in shouting their abortions and embracing a woman’s right to “choose” as a cultural norm, I can’t help but reflect on that intentional message at Bethlehem.

God was deliberate in the plan of the miraculous conception of Jesus from a virgin and all the circumstances surrounding His birth. That baby—held by such a young mother and a father who risked societal shame to live out this mighty plan of God— is the hope of our salvation.

Ponder that! Let it sink in. We are the intended purpose of God’s plan. A plan derived from Mary and Joseph’s unplanned.

There will never be an understanding of the hope and sacredness of life without the acknowledgment of the Savior. Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection define the value of all life. It gives every baby’s life worth—planned or unplanned. When we understand why Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart,” then we can truly comprehend the sanctity of life.

This is why the gospel message must be wrapped in the pro-life message. Without the divine plan, it’s impossible to understand faith in the unplanned.

So, once again, as I watch that living nativity in remembrance of that miraculous day in Bethlehem and become an emotional mess of a mother, I pray that more people will know the gift of salvation. The hope of life. And treasure God’s intentional plan for all the unplanned circumstances in our lives.

*This is an adapted reblog from 2015.

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nacimiento-de-jesus

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  -Luke 2:19

My heart has never been as full as when I gave birth to each of my children. It sounds cliché but giving birth is truly a miracle. The exhaustion of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth climax to what I consider the greatest emotional experiences of my life, and I treasure each one of those memories.

I guess that’s why at Christmastime I become this emotional mother who can’t help but cry when I witness a living nativity scene in a Christmas play or reread scripture about Christ’s birth. It’s all about that baby swaddled in a blanket. Shepherds and Kings kneel at the foot of a manger and Angels worship the miracle of the Christ child. And I sit with tears welling up because I can relate to treasuring the blessing of birth while pondering- like Mary- the miracle of God’s salvation to the world.

God chose the most inconvenient circumstances for Mary to have a baby. An unwed, teenage mother having to live with the cultural shame of her pregnancy. By cultural standards this could have led to the end of young Mary’s future. Giving birth out of wed-lock could have forced Mary into a life of begging and prostitution, as that was the risk in those cultural times. But God asked Mary and Joseph to have faith and trust in this unplanned event in their lives as His intentional promise to the world. It was a choice to see beyond their circumstances, and faith to see that God could bring glory from having a baby.

I don’t know about you but the birth of Christ, especially at this time of year, draws me to my knees in prayer. We live in a society where babies are in the headlines of politically motivated news stories instead of in birth announcements. Where words like pregnancy, unplanned, and birth are overpowered by the word “choice” instead of faith. The birth of a baby is too many times reflected in sentiments of being unwanted instead of loved and adopted. While our country argues over a woman’s right to choose and while graphic videos of companies profiting over the selling of aborted baby parts are watched, I can’t help but reflect on the intentional scene of Bethlehem.

God was just as deliberate in His plan of the miraculous conception of Christ from a virgin as He was in the circumstances surrounding His birth. That baby-held by such a young mother-and a father who risked his own shame to live out faith of this mighty plan of God, is not just the hope of Christmas. He is the hope of salvation.

Our world seems to have lost the understanding of hope, faith, and trust. The unborn baby in an unplanned pregnancy is still wrapped in shame by cultural standards but instead of faith to see beyond our circumstances, society fights for the right to “choose.”

There will never be an understanding of the hope and sacredness of life without the acknowledgement of a Savior. Christ’s birth, His life, and death defines the value of all life. It gives every baby’s life worth-planned or unplanned. I know that a woman’s “right to an abortion” will always fight for that right until she understands how Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Sacredness of life begins in acknowledging a Savior and understanding the intentional purpose of an unplanned circumstance.

So as I watch that living nativity in remembrance of that miraculous day in Bethlehem, I pray that more people will know the hope of salvation. And as they reflect on the miracle of Christ’s birth, they will understand there’s another choice to make beyond their circumstances. God brought hope and glory from the birth of a baby. Oh, if only more people could truly let that set in and treasure that in their hearts. That is the hope of Christmas and that is the promise of every life born out of any circumstance.

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santa

We’ve all heard about the war on Christmas. The politically correct season of “Happy Holidays” or the well wishes for a “Happy Season” without saying the potentially offensive word of CHRISTmas. I admit I use to get wrapped up in that war. I even almost bought one of those bumper stickers that said, “Keep Christ in Christmas”. I am over it and I have moved on to the war on Santa. Huh?

When my husband and I were new parents we had a little “discussion” about Santa. He grew up with the fun belief and child-like wonder of Santa. I did not. Now I never knew Santa as the “Satan” many extreme Christians made him out to be but we just didn’t grow up with the Santa thing. In fact, I had to keep my dis-belief on the down-low as not to offend or ruin the tradition of Santa for other family friends. So having my own children I just assumed my kids would follow my up-bringing with the fun to look at Santa but not to believe in. After all, I never wanted anything to take away from the true meaning of Christmas.

My husband had a different perspective. Fast forward almost 15 Christmas’ now with children and Santa is always alive and well each Christmas morning. We even have a red suit tucked away in our closet. If ever a girl could “backslide” into the down spiral of Santa ville um, that’s me.

So what changed for me in deciding Santa was okay? I admit I was apprehensive. As a parent, I wanted to instill the importance of Christmas and the birth of Christ in my children so they could learn to worship and honor the season with reverence. I didn’t want Santa to take anything away from that. Then I realized Santa and the many distractions that come with the holiday cannot take away the truth revealed through the celebration of the birth of Christ.

How silly to think that my husband and I would be somehow limiting the truth through Santa. You cannot limit the message of Christ when you genuinely worship the real meaning of the season. This became reality for me the other day when I read a sentence in a story my 9-year-old son wrote entitled, “Winter”. As he was describing why winter was his favorite season with snow and cold air he wrote, “We celebrate Christmas on the 25th because that’s when Jesus was born. I think the greatest gift I could ever get on Christmas is God and Jesus”. My eyes filled with tears as a mother reading that because Truth in my son’s heart is greater than fiction. No mention of the guy in the red suit who probably still might show up early this next Christmas morning.

Now I am not promoting Santa in any family. I didn’t grow up with the old jolly St. Nick and I don’t feel I was gipped of any Christmas wonder. I am just sharing for the sake of the war on Christmas and for all the Santa bashers that always appear around this time of year. If you truly live out your faith in front of your children and worship the true and living God, nothing will separate your children from the real truth in knowing Christmas is about the Savior born in a wooden manger and crucified on that forgiveness stained cross.