AN UNFORGETTABLE CHRISTMAS

It was an unforgettable Christmas. As Mike and I gathered with our daughters, our sons-in-law, my parents, my siblings and my nephews at a secluded private lodge in Mississippi, we knew this Christmas would be memorable because it will be followed by the birth of our very first grandchild. And we were not disappointed. On Christmas Eve we all attended a service together before separating into three teams for a video scavenger hunt, where we caught some hysterical footage of Mike swigging egg nog in Krogers', our son-in-law singing Christmas carols to some very wary strangers, and pleas to gas station attendants for directions to the North Pole. Then we inaugurated Alyssa's husband into our annual Christmas pajama photo fest and ended the evening by roasting marshmallows and turning them into s'mores. It was a grand prelude to a wonderful Christmas Day.

But what I remember most about this Christmas was a thought the Lord had placed on my mind on Sunday morning as Lia and I sat together in the church where our son-in-law serves as youth minister. I was looking at scriptures in my Bible when my eye caught some notes I had written in the margins of the first chapter of Matthew. I pointed them out to Lia and we kind of marvelled together, silently, in our pew.

In my notes, I had reminded myself that one of the major reasons the patriarchs wanted children and looked forward with great anticipation to their birth was because they hoped their offspring would be included in the geneology of the expected Messiah. They were waiting for the Messiah and believed He would come. They longed to be included in God's special plan, even though God had not revealed to them what His salvation would look like.

The truth struck me afresh. They could not see. And yet they believed. We see. And yet we do not always believe.

This Christmas, we celebrated the fulfillment of a promise that all the people of the Old Testament could not have fathomed. God has revealed to us the amazing grace He kept hidden for thousands of years, and that truth is illustrated in every nativity scene we have seen and every New Testament scripture we have read during the Christmas season.

As I stared at the notes on the page of my Bible, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. The patriarchs saw through a glass darkly, and yet believed. We, because of God's amazing grace, have the privilege of seeing great mysteries unfolded, and also trusting the One who holds them all together. He truly is Love. It doesn't get any clearer than that.