Advent: Day 13

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying; "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Luke 2:13-14

Imagine the hours after Jesus was born.

I've had two kids. I was in labor with Tucker for a long time (22 hours? something like that). When he was finally born, the doctor told us he didn't want to alarm us, but that he was a little blue so they were taking him to the nursery to look him over more closely. I very casually said something like, "Okay, sure. Can I have a cheeseburger now? And a nap?"Trey and I still laugh about how unconcerned we were about our newborn being blue. We must have been really tired. And maybe a little clueless.

I don't remember much about right after Keaton was born. I wasn't in labor too long and there was nothing unusual about it. Our family had been through a lot in the few weeks before his birth. I remember worrying that the sadness everyone felt would overwhelm the joy that comes with the birth of a child. I also remember (because I still give Trey a hard time about it) that I was only in the hospital for 23 hours after Keaton was born because it was busy there and Trey thought he could take better care of me at home (which he did). He ended up just breaking me out when he'd had enough.

What must Mary and Joseph have felt? Were they able to sleep? Did they weep, overwhelmed with responsibility or uncertainty? When we have those moments when we're face to face with God, when we feel completely surrounded by his presence, how do we react?

Tonight I pray that we will not only be aware of God's presence in our lives, but that we'll take the time to marvel at that presence. That we'll linger in those moments. Amen.