Christmas in a new light

With such a new and young baby, I can't tell you how many times people have made comments of how special it must be for us this Christmas, what a better understanding we must have of the nativity scene. And it's true. This Christmas has been different from the previous years. I am able to relate in ways that I never even thought of before. But maybe not in the way everyone thinks - yes, I can relate to the excitement of a new baby, the miracle of a new life, the gift of a newborn. I can now understand the emotions that flood over you when you hold your baby for the first time and what a gift he is from God. But, I think what has hit me most this Christmas, and the thing I can relate with the best, is something I'd never even considered before.

I can't even begin to imagine how incredible and overwhelming it must've been to know that the baby Mary gave birth to the Savior of the world - what an awesome experience that must've been! But I can't help but think that the human side of her was battling a few other emotions that night. That is, in the midst of such a joyous occasion of a newborn, the excitement of motherhood, the newness of life, I wonder if Mary didn't feel just a little lonely and isolated as she held her new baby in the cold that night. She and Joseph had traveled away from family and friends because it's what God called them to do. Nothing about the situation was how they would've planned it, but they knew God was in control and they were in His care. I think I've experienced a small part of what Mary must've felt as she sat there with the greatest miracle she'd ever experienced . . . dying to share that experience with everyone she knew and loved: family, close friends, people who'd invested in her life. But there she lay, with only her husband and a few unfamiliar faces - completely grateful for those few who cared enough to travel so far just to be there.

Celebrating Christmas in a new town with a new baby, without the familiar faces of family and friends has been a difficult but growing experience. We've been blessed by the visits of some family since Micah's arrival, but I've so longed to share this experience with the familiar faces of close friends who have become extended family. Often I feel isolated and alone, but know that God has a plan in all of this. Not that my son will grow up to be the Savior of the world, but I pray that something we are doing and experiencing now would help shape and mold him into someone that God would use to change the world and bring others to Him. This year, more than any other, I look to Mary as a woman of great faith, strength and character. Like her, I will choose to keep my eyes Up and trust that, although I may be feeling a little isolated and alone, there is One who is right beside me who will never leave me, nor forsake me.