The Good News...So Grand!!

So it seems I have taken an incredibly long sabbatical from the blog world, unintentionally.  Sometimes life just gets in the way and taking the time to sit and write takes backseat.

 Thank you to all who have continued to visit my blog and read my past posts.  I plan to begin blogging regularly in 2013!  Really!

The good news is that I have a beautiful new grandson!

Judah David Terry. I am learning the new role, privilege, and joy of being a Gigi(Grandma Gay).  What a wonderful Christmas gift he is to all of us!! I don't think I need or want anything else for Christmas...just to hold this precious bundle of joy in my arms!!

It makes me think of that very first Christmas so very long ago. The best good news...when God became man, in the form of a baby, totally dependent on His mother for all of His needs.

It is mind-boggling to think of this...Jesus Christ is God and Jesus Christ is man...fully God, yet fully human, in fact, so fully human that He subjected Himself to be born of a virgin. The Virgin Mary, the mother of our Savior also in need of a Savior, just as we all are in need of a Savior.  Born...traveling down the birth canal just like every other human child...and without the assistance of a doctor or the cleanliness of a hospital room.

The birth of the Messiah, the savior of the world occurred most likely in a cave in which livestock was kept. In those days the custom was to build homes near caves when it was possible to use as a stable.  He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and placed in a manger, a trough used to feed the livestock when they were unable to graze in the pastures surrounding the city. This birth was nothing unusual, except perhaps that they were forced to be in the cave instead of a family member's guest room, because of the census no one had room to spare.

This birth in a Bethlehem stable probably went unnoticed by many. But out on a hillside, all of Heaven made it known to lowly shepherds, of all people, that the Messiah was born. I could not tell the story any better than God Himself...this is one of my favorite passages in His Word...

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
                                                                                     Luke 2:8-19

That last verse gets me every time I read it. I used to think, I wonder what exactly was Mary 'pondering'?  Was it just an overwhelming wonder of all that had just occurred back from the time of first hearing from the angel that she was going to conceive and have a baby...and not just any baby but the Messiah!  For surely Mary knew from the words of the angel that this baby was to be the Savior she had learned about from the time she was a young child, the Messiah they were all awaiting.

Or as she looked into those tiny little eyes as she held Him in her arms, did she think about what He would grow up to be?  His life purpose? His greatness? You know, those things all mother's wonder about as they hold that precious child in their arms for the first time.  Feeling that overwhelming love come over her...I cannot imagine the overwhelming love of the mother holding LOVE itself.

But I can almost, in just a shadow of a way, imagine it as I hold my grandson in my arms...knowing that I love this child because of who he is...not for what he will be when he grows up.  Love so overwhelming...so grand!

I love that God gives us little glimpses of heaven on earth...those little glimpses of His love for us.  Because of those hints of His love for us, we can almost comprehend the sacrifice He made in sending His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins...His blood covering our sins so that we could have a relationship with Him and spend eternity in Heaven.

Overwhelming love...so GRAND!!!


So...now I have to ask...what will you be pondering in your heart on Christmas morning?

     

(Gigi)

For God so loved the world the He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ~ John 3:16