Simple Christmas

At my most recent MOPS meeting, we were asked to consider Christmas simply. Mary was a mom, just like me (except her child was God!). I'm sure she had morning sickness, swollen ankles, exhaustion, varicose veins, weight gain, headaches and all the rest of it during her pregnancy with Jesus. And then, when she was nice and huge, she had to ride to Bethlehem ON A DONKEY?! Um...no thanks. No wonder she went into labor as soon as they arrived! Oh, and there were no epidurals. Just labor on the dirt floor covered in dirty straw. Back then, a woman's family would attend her birth. But Mary didn't have her mama. Just Joseph, who was probably as nervous as any dad would be today. Oh, and lets not forget the farm animals! Um...no thanks. What did she think when she heard Jesus' first cry? I imagine it was much the same as the rest of us when our babies were born. Except she had the added stress of knowing she had to raise God's son. After the baby was born, they had to wrap him in dirty rags and use an animal feed trough as a bassinette. The first visitors were a bunch of shepherds who probably smelled of sheep. No hand sanitizer to get rid of the sheep germs before touching the baby! But you know what, Mary pondered ALL of these things and treasured them in her heart. I had never thought of Christmas in this way, but I really enjoyed that MOPS meeting! I hope that you are able to take some time this Christmas to treasure in YOUR heart the precious simplicity of the birth of our Savior!