Joy comes in the morning!
For many years, it has been our practice (my wife and I) to write a Christmas letter that includes one page of devotional thoughts about Christmas, and a second page of family news. This post is taken from this year’s letter -I hope you enjoy it, or at least find it helpful. Please note that you are more than welcome to sign up for our occasional newsletter - and then you can get the family news, too! When you get to the sign up form, click on News from Ed and Susanna, and any of the other newsletters you would like to subscribe to.
Here are my thoughts on Christmas, 2011:
Christmas. It is a great story that we never tire of: The manger scene, stars, angels, shepherds, wise men. Underneath the story is the best news any of us will ever hear: Immanuel – “God is with us”. In the words of John’s gospel, “the Word became flesh and lived among us…”
What we kind of lose track of, I think, is what it took to make this miracle happen. Bringing a baby into the world is not easy…
A couple of nights ago, as I was starting to think about this letter, Susanna looked at her phone, and discovered a text message earlier in the day: One of our friends, a member of a young married women’s Bible study that Susanna leads, was on her way to the hospital. A baby was on the way!
But the message was hours old. Surely something had happened since then? We tried calling. Texting. No response. Finally a text from the mother-to-be herself 12 hours after they had arrived at the hospital. Things were progressing, she felt fine. We went to bed happy that by the time we woke up there would be another member of our adopted extended family to cuddle and coo over.
By morning baby Daniel was in the world. But, as we learned later, he had arrived via c-section after 18 hours of hard labor. Small Mom, big baby (8+ pounds) – it happens. Both were doing fine, but it was a reminder that even with modern medicine, bringing a baby into the world is an ordeal. In this case, it was like running an 18 hour marathon followed by major surgery.
That’s what made our visit that to the hospital that afternoon so interesting: Mom was exhausted. You could see it in her eyes. But her face was full of… joy is the only word that fits here. She was radiant! All she cared about was this beautiful little boy she had been waiting for through all these months. No, she didn’t hide the pain or pretend it hadn’t happened. Pressed, she admitted that it was a long, hard effort – and the c-section was no fun at all. But it was worth it! Her baby was finally here! Nothing else mattered.
There is a lesson here about Christmas. The joy of Jesus’ birth also comes through clouds of pain. A very ordinary human pregnancy, with all the expected suffering, complicated by family and social tension, the real threat of ostracism and even a dose of political intrigue. But in the end, joy and praises to God. We see the same thing at the end of Jesus life, as well: The joy and celebration of Easter comes through the clouds of a crucifixion.
What is true of Christmas is true of life. How many of us can share such stories: child birth, parenting, unemployment, economic reverses, deteriorating health, the ultimate challenge of death, our own and that of loved ones. Susanna and I have more such stories every year – and we know you do, too.
The answer was in the eyes of baby Daniel’s Mommy. You knew that she hadn’t forgotten the pain; it was real. Its memory will be with her the rest of her – and his! – life. But it didn’t matter any more. Her joy was too great. So with us – even when joy has to be held in the arms of faith.
As David has it in Psalm 30:5,
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Tags: redemption
