Waking up in the mid­dle of the night to feed Sophie has given me a lot of time to sit and think. She usu­ally gives me about a good 20 min­utes to pon­der some thoughts; the kind of thoughts that roll around in your head at 3:00 in the morn­ing. Last night my thoughts turned to Christmas and its mean­ing. Having a baby (espe­cially at this time of the year) makes you think about those things. I am amazed at how much Sophie has made me think about Jesus and his birth. About the strug­gles Mary had to go through and the pre­cious gift God gave the world on that night so long ago.

When Greg and I found out we were preg­nant it was an excit­ing moment in our life. We wanted to tell every­one, but we were care­ful to wait until we knew for sure that I would have a safe preg­nancy. After our 10 week appoint­ment we hap­pily told every­one our great news. Last night when I thought about this, I thought about Mary and what she went through when she found out she was preg­nant. She was sur­prised, hum­bled and an obe­di­ent ser­vant. But what a risk! She had to tell Joseph that they were hav­ing a child that wasn’t his. What a dif­fi­cult posi­tion for her to be in and one I do not envy. Thankfully God inter­vened and he let Joseph know how spe­cial and pre­cious this child would be and that he needed to sup­port Mary and still make her his wife.

As my preg­nancy wore on I became more fatigued and thought that it would never end. When I reached my last few weeks I went on leave from work and stayed at home to wait. Unfortunately Mary did not have what I had. Actually, she couldn’t stay at home in her last few weeks but travel with Joseph to Bethlehem. Not a very com­fort­able ride on the back of a don­key. And while I had the expert and help­ful staff at Lakeland Regional to guide me through my labor and deliv­ery, all Mary had was a rough bed and her hus­band to coach her through.

Then I thought about the fact that I have the great bless­ing of a child. Something that is so hard to fathom. She is so small and Greg and I have the huge task of tak­ing care of her. She is our biggest respon­si­bil­ity right now. We had so many peo­ple give us gifts, toys, and sup­plies to take care of her. Our needs were met and we appre­ci­ate every­thing that was given to us. Mary had gifts to, although her gifts were alto­gether dif­fer­ent. She had shep­herds ador­ing her child, Angels singing his praises and Wise Men com­ing from far away to lay down gifts and wor­ship her child. What a mag­i­cal night for Mary and Joseph. What a won­der­ful evening!!

Here we are with a nor­mal child, while Mary had an extra­or­di­nary one to raise. Becoming a mother has opened my eyes and my heart to the won­der­ful gift a child can be and the pos­si­bil­i­ties that every new life can become. I thank God every day for Sophie and for the life we have with Jesus. God has blessed us all this Christmas time. Take a moment (it does not need to be in the mid­dle of the night) to thank God for his gift, his Son and for the life that he has given you as well.

Merry Christmas.