It Was Well Worth the Effort

a month of giving

The packages are wrapped (the gifts that I have bought anyway), the greeting cards are sent (well, at least the 10 or so that I have finished writing out), the house is decorated (lots of unopened boxes remain in the attic, out of sight, out of mind), tasty treats are in the oven (a dozen or so cookies) and food has been prepared for the upcoming Christmas feast (thank goodness for pre-baked, honey glaze hams). I am sooooooooooo ready!!!

And I am ready because my son flies in tonight for a week of celebrating Christ's birth with family. It doesn't get much better than this. He makes all the holiday effort worth it.

I'm sure Mary felt that way. She didn't deck the halls or get out the plum pudding ~ no her celebration was much different. She gave birth to the Son of God, Emanuel, Christ Jesus in a lowly stable ~ and it was all worth the effort. While her son may have been of God, she experienced the intimate joy that a mother feels at the birth of her child.

Thank You, Lord, for bringing Your Son to the world from the womb of a woman. Mothers all over the world can relate and rejoice.