An Encouraging Word

¹⁵ 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.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

A few weeks ago at my church’s Christmas Eve service, my pastor read this passage from Luke Chapter 2. He did so after reviewing what had happened to Mary and Joseph in the nine months preceding this interaction with shepherds. A couple of teenagers, engaged and planning a life together, have their world rocked by visits from angels telling them that Mary will become pregnant–without any help from Joseph–and bear the son of God.

An honor, yes, but also a complete change of plans and a hardship, both socially and physically. Socially, because having a child before marriage was far more of a taboo in that time and culture than it is now. Physically, because nine months later, thanks to a Roman census, Mary and Joseph have to travel by donkey from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. That’s a hundred miles (according to Google Maps) on a donkey while nine months pregnant. If you’ve been nine months pregnant or lived with someone who was, you’ll know how uncomfortable that trip must have been.

Pastor Jeff asked us to imagine Mary, sitting in that manger shortly after Jesus was born, wondering if this was really what God intended for her. An unplanned pregnancy, an unexpected trip to Bethlehem, giving birth in a cave next to farm animals because there was no room in the inn. If this was God’s will, why was it all so difficult? Was God even in this? Had she dreamed up that angel visit nine months ago?

Have you had moments like that? When you wonder, If this is God’s will for my life, why is it all so difficult?

Then, in the middle of this doubt, a bunch of shepherds Mary has never met come barreling in, asking to see the Messiah, her newborn son.

Can you imagine how encouraging that was for Mary? Those shepherds, excited and sweaty from their sprint through the fields of Bethlehem, were a message to Mary that she was on the right track, that God was still looking out for her, that all the hardships she had endured were for a reason.

I received a couple of messages like that over the Christmas holidays, both, as it happens, prompted by the Christmas cards I sent out this year.

At that same Christmas Eve service, I ran into some friends who have known me for close to eight years. They knew me when I was married, they supported me during my divorce, and they’re still friends now that I’m a single dad. They’ve been receiving Christmas cards from me all that time, and they told me that seeing this year’s card, featuring the smiling faces of my little family, showed them how far I’ve come over the past few years. Buying a house this fall seemed to be a milestone of sorts, a recognition that I’ve come through a hard time and reached a new stage of my life.

About a week later, I received this message from another friend, one who didn’t know me when I was married: “I think my favorite Christmas card this year is yours. It’s inspiring to see how loved and empowered those two girls of yours are.” That encouragement came at a particularly tough time for me. We were a few days into our chicken pox quarantine here at the house, and the girls and I were starting to get stir crazy. Lily, especially, was in a state that day.

Two messages in a week from people looking at my life and seeing something good. I needed that encouragement, that reminder that, as hard as my life has been in recent years, God is still looking out for me, that he’s blessed me in this Plan B life of mine.

It’s mid-January now. I’ve packed up all my Christmas decorations and taken down the Christmas cards from the refrigerator door. All but one. I’m leaving my own Christmas card on the fridge this year. It’s my shield against the daily frustrations of being a single parent. Every time I see it, and my daughters’ bright smiles, I’m reminded of the encouragement I received this holiday season, and of what’s most important in my life.

Share an encouraging word with someone in your life today. Let them know that you notice them, that you see God’s hand in their life. These messages matter.

Image: “Spring Lamb,” Sarah Macmillan, Flickr (CC)