Christmas is always such a special time for us. My reflections on Christmas seem to change each year depending on what has gone on that year. Since infertility has been such a large part of my life the last couple year, but more this year with the diagnosis, I spent a lot of time considering Mary. What must she have felt when she was told that she would give birth to the Son of God? How did she react the first time she felt Jesus kick? How did she feel about having to leave her family, midwife, and lady friends (that would help her with the birth) to make the journey to Bethlehem at 9 months pregnant? What was going through her mind when she considered the surroundings of the place in which she gave birth?
I reflected on what was common in the culture. Only men were required to go to their home cities to be registered, so why did Mary travel with him? Women from the area would come to act as attendants for Mary, along with the midwife to help prepare her for birth. What sense would it make for her to leave that comfort in order to have Joseph help deliver her? Perhaps Joseph didn’t want to leave her alone or was afraid he would miss the birth while he registered them. Men were not part of the birthing process, they were most often separated from their wives to wait until after the birth, so I imagine he was not very comfortable with the prospect of being solely responsible for the birth (not even considering what the angel had shared with them…just thinking as a human here).
Anyway, after dwelling for awhile on these things and reading the Bible for insight, my eyes fell upon a verse that hit me much harder than any other, “and Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”. Mary had surrendered to this plan the Lord had for her, opened herself up to believing all that had been told to her, and watched as the miracle of God’s Son came to fruition through her womb. In holding her sweet baby Jesus, she treasured all she had been told and experienced deep within her heart and was blessed for her surrender.
This Christmas, I believe that is what the Lord wanted me to remember. To reflect on the heart of sacrifice that Mary kept. I am thankful for the example Mary provided of heartfelt faith and surrender. I pray that I would have a similar heart in the year to come.
Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebrations (we invited friends over for a Christmas party and then Christmas with both families):
Kyle and Amanda opening gag gifts
Hal received a High School Musical pillow and microphone pen for his gag gift….priceless!
Emily and Mary Catherine, the makeup queen
Charlotte’s holiday haircut
Hal with his Christmas loot
Me with mine
Charlotte hoarding hers
Christmas at my parent’s house
Me and mom with our babies…Cody and Charlotte
Me with one of my favorite main squeezes…Daddy!
Me and my favorite crazy cousin, Lauren and my aunt Lori
My twin brother Steven and his wife Kimberly…sweet, aren’t they?!
My little brother Chris being his usual weird self…after looking thru all my pictures I realized that I didn’t have a single picture of him smiling. Sad, very sad.
My nephew, Tyler, enjoying his gift from us…a bank that makes the sound of trains and lights up when he puts coins in it.
We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior, the joy of family, and reflecting on 2009.

































































