keith and i rented "the nativity story" last night. it was by far one of the best movies i have ever seen! have you seen it? if not, i highly recommend it...and try to watch it in this season. you'll have a new found appreciation for christ's amazing birth. i mean, can you imagine? how scared mary must have been, when an angel told her she would conceive God's son...how much faith it took for her to trust. she was so young (some say 13 or 14 years old)...and she was pregnant with God's son. what a responsibility she must have felt. what if she didn't raise him the way God wanted...what if she couldn't be a good mother for him. all those questions must have been racing through her mind. and then to have to tell joseph, the man you are supposed to marry, that you are pregnant and it's not his baby, but it's God's baby. yah, can you say crazy? i bet joseph was thinking "do i really want to marry this girl?" but what blows me away even more is the way joseph took this girl and cared for her. he could have easily accused her, which would have then led to her death by stoning, but instead, he chose to believe her, and care for her and this baby, who was not even his. he took mary to bethlehem (a hundred mile walk)...he walked the whole way, pulling a donkey behind him, that was carrying mary. i just love that. joseph believed mary, that she was carrying God's son, and he stood by her (even though everyone in the town disliked them now). he knew that this woman was to be his wife, and through good times and bad, he would stick by her. and that is exactly what he did. it's a beautiful representation of how marriage is supposed to be. about how marriage is not about feelings, but about actions. joseph may not have wanted to care for mary the way he did, but he knew he was supposed to, and from that, bloomed a beautiful love. and mary could trust this man to stay by her side and take care of her and this unborn child. i was overcome with emotion by watching this movie. what a great reminder of what this holiday is really about. it's not about the magic of santa, or presents...it's about the birth of a beautiful baby, in a stable, a long time ago...to 2 young, scared parents, who trusted the Lord with all that was in them.
again, if you haven't seen this movie, go see it! buy it! i'm so glad we bought it...it's one that our whole family can watch. and i think we are going to start a tradition where we watch it on christmas eve or christmas day every year.
we hope you all have a very merry christmas!!