Three Kings
The nephews on New Years Eve
Snuggly PJ's by Aga
The Mess
Christmas at my Dad's House
Peter and TiTi share a snack
Spiderman Race Track
Old neighbors, still friends
Bedtime Stories with Unkle Mike
Dol Guldur
Hoodies from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Tom
Christmas is all about a baby boy. A couple becoming a family. An unexpected miracle to bring salvation to all the Earth. When I found out I was expecting our first child I remember a distinct feeling of sheer terror. Not the emotion most people would expect. This was the news that changed my life in more ways than I could imagine. I was 25 years old, married, we had a house and steady jobs, great friends and family connections. I was, as they say, prepared. Without these preparations I cannot imagine surviving the next nine months, let alone the next seven years. I cannot imagine going through this alone, despised for my condition, confused, without medical care, in a strange city, in a barn, at 14. And yet this is precisely the situation in which Mary found herself, her new husband, and her new baby boy. Now as I listen to the Gospel accounts of what happened that blessed Christmas Eve I find myself cringing at the circumstances around my Savior's birth. If He had come the way He deserved it would have been as a glorious powerful being descended from the Heavens and emanating rays of wisdom and peace that all nations would instantly see and understand. People would fear Him too much not to follow Him, there would be no question of His authority. But our God is a God of mystery, working always in subtle designs and appealing even to the most strenuous of all human experiences: birth.
