Daily Advent Devotions from Church Street UMC
Friday, December 18, Morning
By Judy Vest
What a Year!
Read 1 Peter 1:8
“You love him though you have never seen him; though not seeing him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself.”
You have a beautiful, healthy baby boy (or girl)! Most new mothers want to see all ten fingers and toes immediately. Oh, the sweet smell of that freshly-bathed baby. Wait! Where did all the discomfort and anxiety of the past nine months go? Ah, it doesn’t matter anymore.
In our family the blessing to us was a beautiful baby girl, and her mother named her Emilee. She is now ten years old and in the fifth grade doing virtual school at home. What a year we have had in so many ways: school closing in the spring, a pandemic, isolation, uncertainty, and confinement.
Thinking of the birth of my precious granddaughter and the Advent season has me thinking of another family long ago … Mary, Joseph and their baby Jesus. A heavily pregnant woman being led over rough land by her husband on the back of a donkey to give birth in a manger. This child was a boy, and his mother named him Jesus, our Savior.
Mother and father had to flee with Jesus to a far away country. Although virtual school was not an option in that day and time, Jesus certainly learned exactly the things he needed to know. How difficult those circumstances were for all of them.
Blessings come to each of us in our lives, daily. Change, hardship, illness and broken relationships can visit us, too. Hopefully, laughter, health, and good, wholesome fun come often enough to balance our lives as we move forward through our allotted days.
Prayer
Dear Lord God, help us to hang on! May we keep the faith in things unseen, and avoid confusion over things unknown. Reassure us that You are in control and everything is ultimately going to be just fine. Amen.
