Baby Wonder

Beginnings- all wrapped up in yarn twirled blankets.
Feather soft hair, life soaked skin, dim blinking eyes poking out of swaddled softness.
Looked upon with wonder smiles and contented sighs.


There is nothing in the world like a baby!


My babies came into this world in clean, washed-white hospitals as I was hovered over by a doctor and 4 or 5 nurses.  My little ones were cleaned and measured and weighed and handed to me wrapped in cotton gentleness. 

But not so with Mary.

"She brought forth her firstborn son. . ."

No midwife.  No pain relief.  No cleanliness. 

Dirt, dust, hay, animal smells, donkeys, sheep, unwashed floors, alone.  Amazing.


". . .and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes,"

Mary was prepared.  She knew her time was near.  She must have known the journey would be difficult, so before she left her mother and father and home, she packed.  She carefully packed her own belongings, things for Joseph, food for the trip, and what a mother needs for her baby. 

Swaddling clothes. 
To keep the newborn snug, safe, warm. 
History tells us that babies were wrapped tightly in strips of cloth to soothe the small ones, and now we still swaddle our babies to remind them of womb warmth and comfort.

And Mary knew.  And Mary planned.  And Mary brought these cloths to wrap her baby, and keep the Savior secure.  For she, after all, was responsible for the well-being of the Creator.  And His tiny form depended upon her for life.  The Mighty One made small. . . to save.


The hands that shaped the mountains, would now grasp for His mother's finger.
The mouth that spoke light would now search for life giving milk.
The face that was heaven's glory would now smile in sweet baby dreams.


God made man.  God with us.  God in our likeness. 
God crying.  God breathing.  God living.  God loving.
God wrapped in the swaddling clothes of a mother's love, to be like us, to redeem us.


". . . and laid Him in a manger."

Burden bearing beasts once hungered above this trough.  Oxen or donkeys or cows looking for a meal to quiet hungry stomachs. 

Do we hunger above this bed of hay?  Do we truly seek to find the manger and the Savior within?
Are our souls empty, longing to be filled, only to be loaded down with worldly fodder?

Seek the Savior.  Seek the small, life giving one.  Seek the humility.  Seek the peace.

Merry Christmas!