To say I love Christmas is an understatement. It really is the most wonderful time of the year! I love everything about the whole season: the food, family, friends, laughter, lights, music, shopping, gift giving and receiving, etc. I even like the weather when it’s cold and gray.
Most importantly, I love Christmas because it is a celebration of the birth of my Savior. My Savior–born in a filthy manger. “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53: 2-5
This year, I have a new reason to love Christmas. Lily. It would be normal for me to not like the fact that Lily’s birthday is 3 days after Christmas because it makes the season more hectic and she has to share her birthday with a major holiday. However, that’s not how I feel. I adore the fact that she gets to celebrate her birthday with Jesus. Two miracles to celebrate.
I was on bedrest for the majority of December last year. I filled my time with plenty of Gilmore Girl episodes, facebook, reading books, napping, etc. Many times, I found myself lying in the bed listening to a few Christmas songs over and over again and just squalling. I understand that my hormones were a little out of whack, but for the most part the tears were genuine. I cried because I was so overwhelmed and humbled that the Lord would choose me to carry His child and raise His child. I cried at how blessed I was to even conceive a child and how blessed I was that as long as I rested I would be able to carry His child a little longer until she was fully developed. I cried because I eagerly anticipated holding His child for the first time. I cried because I thought about what she looked like, how much she weighed, what His plans are for her future. I cried because my life was about to be different, much different, and I couldn’t truly imagine what was to come.
I thought a lot about Mary. She was carrying the Savior of the world. She was a virgin. She was engaged. Her Son would suffer immensely to make a final sacrifice for the sins of the world. And the Lord chose her.
I felt for once in my life I was able to empathize with Mary. If I felt this strongly about carrying and raising Lily, imagine the depth of those same feelings that Mary felt carrying and raising Jesus.
That’s what makes this time of year so wonderful. The perspective of Christmas through a mother’s eyes makes Jesus, Lily, and the whole season even more precious. Every time I hear a Christmas song or feel the cold wind under a gray sky, I will forever be reminded of the gift of a Savior and the gift of a child. I love having a Christmas baby 🙂
The first video below was my favorite one to boohoo to last year, Faith Hill’s “A Baby Changes Everything”. The second one is my new favorite this year, Mercy Me’s “Joseph’s Lullaby”.
A Merry Heart 