today years ago...

Mary must have freaked out when her water bag broke. This was her first baby after all. And to think that she has remained untouched when she conceived... I can only imagine her panic. Giving birth with all the blood and gore that come with it in an unsanitary place and yet she chose to be joyful.

Joseph has got to be torn between being a weary tour guide and an inexperienced nursemaid. How was he supposed to know all the inns were booked and how should he be an instant expert at childbirth... a child whom an angel only said he was supposed to father. Putting his family name at risk and yet he chose to stay by Mary and their baby.

Shepherds wondered why there's something different about the country's night breeze. Perhaps something will stir their below-caste, insignificant lives.

A star twinkled its brightest, inconspicuous to untrained eyes...

...but to the Wise Men of the East, this star told a secret. A great discovery that will make them wiser than they could ever imagine.

Years ago a host of angels were getting ready to appear- to follow the example of Gabriel who calmed the fears of Mary and took care that Joseph should go on with the marriage- and herald the greatest news the world will ever know.

In a whirl of events involving characters seemingly inconsequential, who had nothing in them but obedience, God's master plan started to unfold. Today, after those many years ago a baby was born in the lowliest place putting at risk his earthly father's reputation and his earthly mother's natal health. He grew up to offend the sensibilities of pompous leaders who acted 'holier than thou,' to lead a revolution of changed lives, and to bear upon himself all the sins of the world.

This baby, born that many years ago, has grown up, lived, and died... and the best part: lived again and is still alive until now.