O Holy Night
2002 Advent Devotion Collection
December 7
READING: Luke 2.1-20
"This very day in David's town your Savior was born - Christ the Lord" Luke 2.11
The miracle of birth is a wonderful
thing to witness and I have been privileged to be present at the birth
of three little ones, not counting my own two sons. The first time I was
asked to assist in this joyous occasion was when my nephew Trey was born.
My sister and I went to Lamaze classes together and when the time came,
in the middle of the night, we were prepared and calm, which is the most
important part of what we learned. The second time I was called upon was
a few months later. This time it was a young girl I worked with who knew
I had experience and she had no one to be with her. I hurried to the hospital,
after receiving her anxious phone call at 2 a.m. and was with her when
they decided to take her in for an emergency Caesarean. Her baby boy Jordan,
was in trouble and she was scared. They let me go in the delivery room
with her, to hold her hand and help keep her calm. The third and hopefully
not my last, was when my daughter-in-law Sue and son Brian asked for me
to be there when my grandson Nigel was born. We waited all night for him
and again my biggest job was to keep everyone calm. Each birth I witnessed,
was a wonderful miracle and each time I could feel myself grinning from
ear to ear with tears of joy at the sight of the newborn gift from God.
The Bible doesn't tell us who was there to witness the actual birth of Jesus. Was Mary left alone to handle it by herself? Did Joseph assist or did he find a midwife to help her? We don't know. One thing I'm sure of, is that God was there. He was there in the middle of the night to comfort and watch the miracle of his son's birth, just as I'm sure he was there when all my little ones were born. He was probably grinning ear to ear with tears of joy in his eyes too, because you can't witness something so wonderful and not be touched by the beauty of life.
I read somewhere that the birth of
a baby is God's way of telling us that the world should go on. He gave
us Jesus so we could go on.
PRAYER: Thank you dear Lord for the miracle of birth. Thank you for the birth of Your Son Jesus Christ on that night so long ago. May we find comfort in Your love and grace. Amen. -- Janet T.
Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
(217) 428-4336