The Shepherds

They were simply doing their job when they were alerted to a most glorious miracle.  Simple men.  I learned recently that they may have been shepherding the lambs used for the temple sacrifices so very near to the Lamb born to be the sacrifice for all of us.  Christmas didn't come with a frenzy of programs, gift buying, and perfection.  It was messy, in a manger, celebrated by simple people.

As I think back on Christmas with the nieces and nephews, my heart hurts a tiny bit that Mom wasn't there chuckling over their antics, offering comfort to their hurts.  Dad was not there teasing them and enjoying watching them play.  We had an imperfect family, but it was always loving.  We've lost big, but we still have so much.


I have been burdened by the pain of five families we know-some experiencing a first Christmas without a loved one, some overcoming serious medical battles.  While not as serious as those, my sister is spending this Christmas in a state of extra stress. This morning she hit a deer while driving to pick up her son's Christmas gift.  She waits and hopes the car is not totaled because this car is more than a car to her.  It's a piece of her inheritance from my dad and holds extra sentimental value for her as she loved our Dad so much, and he loved his cars.  She was always a daddy's girl and probably the closest of all of us to him.  The estate is not yet settled, so she received this part of her inheritance early.  She's very good at managing her resources as she supports three people on very low pay, but she faces a long and labor intensive career as she enters the years where physical labor gets harder and harder, and this is a difficult setback. Please pray for her and for hurting people everywhere this morning.  Christmas did not start out tied up in a nice bow, and it is not that way for so many this year.  Even so, we have much for which we can be thankful.

May your heart be light...