The Joy Of The Shepherds

At 3 a.m. on Christmas morning, while all other peeps where nestled peacefully in their beds, I was in the horse pastures wading around in mud juggling horses. I was mad and resentful and just wanted to go "night, night."

I was also a little nervous... not of being alone in the dark (that part was quite peaceful)... I was was scared of the unknown. The unknown event that lurks around every corner when you are caring for and managing animals during the nasty rain. 

I've witnessed a horse harmlessly roll to itch his back and 45 minutes later have to be put down because he twisted his intestine while rolling. 

I've found my daughter's pony too weak to stand in the quiet hours of the morning. 

I've had to lure my blind horse to safer ground when she became disoriented in the pasture. 

I've walked in to feed to find my childhood horse shivering in shock when a tumor became too much for her body to bear. 

Terrifying moments and emergencies fill my mind. In the quiet of the Christmas morning, all I could think about was the "what ifs." What might lurk around the corner to harm this peaceful and holy day.  

As I looked up at the heavens and saw the bright stars, I prayed desperately for God to protect these unpredictable creatures and spare me, if even for a day, the sick sinking feeling in my stomach of finding one of them in danger. 

I began to give them hay and slowly walk them to their paddocks. In the dark it took a lot of talking and comforting for the easily startled beasts to trust the path I chose for them. In the darkness of the morning, my horses went from startled and nervous, to calm and content. 

My nerves settled and I became overjoyed by the calmness that was all around. The crunching of hay and gentle snorts where a joyous sound... the sound of safety, security and quiet that could only be appreciated because I had experienced overwhelming fear of the unknown. 

Then suddenly at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning, while all other peeps where nestled peacefully in their beds, I was in the pastures.  I was no longer mad and resentful. I was no longer nervous. I was no longer scared of the unknown. I was consumed by peace and joy and excitement because it was Christmas morning. YAY for CHRISTMAS!!!

In that moment, I realized why God chose the lowly shepherds to be the first to witness His arrival to Earth. Those humble shepherds felt the sickening fear when the Angels appeared. This unexpected event that could scare, kill, or maim their precious sheep. 

Luke describes them as "terrified." Terrified is a fo sho helpless way to feel when you are caring for animals. The angel of the Lord said, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." (Luke 2:9-10). 

Those shepherds fully appreciated this great joy because they had experienced the fear. They understood the peace because they had endured the fatigue. They had been treated by society as inferior, ignoble, and subordinate. God put them in a place of favor, honor, and dignity. 

They were honored as the first to see Christ the King lying in the manger. They experienced being inferior, so they truly appreciated being favored. They had experienced fear, so they welcomed and embraced joy. 

At 4 a.m. on Christmas morning, I climbed into my bed and snuggled under my covers knowing that it's okay to be fearful, and tired, and stressed, and even terrified because it's those experiences that have allowed me to truly know the Joy and Peace of Christ's birth.  

Peeps, it's difficult being a Princess of the Kingdom when you feel like a lowly Shepherdess.  Just trying to keep all our sheep in a row can be completely overwhelming.  It often leaves us broken down, broken hearted, and down right hopeless.  But our sweet Savior invited the lowest and most exhausted and broken to meet Him first!!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28 

Stop and follow the star.  If you haven't already, take time to do it now.   Just think how beautiful that peace and joy will feel as it seeps into your heart and renews your soul.  Just like the shepherds, take your tired self to the manger and just sit awhile.  And make room for the King.  By golly, the sheep can wait.

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Tis The Season

So, it's Christmas Eve and for the past few weeks, I've been diving into some super amazing scripture about prophecy and real life grace.  It's always a bit overwhelming, but I have so been trying to soak in the Christmas story.  Tis the season, right BBs?

I completely long to not miss this important day!!  And then it hit me like a big ole ton of bricks.  I began to really see the story of grace that is laid before us with the birth of Christ.

BBs, Can I just want to talk just one hot minute about the five women in Jesus's lineage? Sometimes they are lost amongst the sheep and the angels singing and whatnot.  Open your Bible up to Matthew 1 and try not to be bored senseless through the endless naming of all these peeps.  But, please don't miss these five women.

Now I'm guessing you are in one of two camps.  Camp one is all like, "Look, little BBs, we totes know all about these women and why they are listed and all the whatnots."  And camp two is more like, "You lost me at Matthew 1:2."

Whichever camp you are in, bear with me just for a few hundred shakes of a lamb's tail.  Not too long ago at Easter, I wrote about wanting to be a "Mary."  Here's the deal.  

Some days I'm all like Mary Magdalene throwing my crayola demons aside to follow my Savior.  Sometimes I'm like the Mary that poured sweet perfume on Jesus's feet.  And even sometimes I'm like His momma, Mary, that quietly supported her son and savior to the death.

Reality hits, however, each Christmas.  And I realize that I'm less like a Mary and more like these fools listed in Matthew. I read these names in this long line of decedents of our Immanuel.  

First up... Tamar.  I read of her vial deceit... pretending to be a prostitute and sleeping with her FIL just to gain an inheritance.  Goodness, I'd never be like her!

I move on to Rahab.  Well, more prostitution going around.  More difficult convos with the kiddos about this woman as we read through the women listed in Jesus's genealogy.  She is all about selling things she just need not sell to make this whole story PG.

Then there's Bathsheba.  She makes me super mad.  Mostly because of David.  I mean, come on, dude, get your crapola together.  You're stinking awesome and then you have to go and pull this R rated nonsense with this hot chick flaunting around in a bathtub.

Now Ruth, I adore.  She is more like it, right?  But in reality, she is somewhat foolish with her loyalty and fervor.  She is super duper determined and sometimes even brazen for a non-important widower with no real rights.  I'm guessing she shook up the town square with her determination.

And finally, we have Mary.  She is a quiet one, isn't she?  I mean, sheesh.  She gives birth to a king and has to manage a family with this little precious Savior running around.  She is to be adored, right?  

And I look at these women and I realize that it's not about some grading scale of how good they are.  It's not about all the "wrongs" lining up with all of the "rights."  These women are a big ole hot mess that have been deep fried in coo coo for cocoa puffs.  They are broken... just like ME!  So what's it all about?

It's about grace.

This season, we bow on our scarred up and unworthy knees at the foot of an infant Savior. 

We are given a King... an eternal King that humbles himself by entering this undeserving world as a tiny baby in a nasty ole stable.

We are Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba and it doesn't even matter.  Not only did he come here for us, he listed us quite proudly in his lineage. 

You see, he takes our broken mess and makes it beautiful.  He has since the world began, and He still is today. It's not that He doesn't care that we are a bunch fo mess ups.  Goodness knows we break his heart daily... perhaps hourly or more.  But He loves us THAT much.  

He loves us enough to make our broken mess beautiful.  And He loves us enough to dwell among us.  

Let this Christmas be a reminder that the Immanuel is here.  

Immanuel.  God with us.

Plain and simple.  

Not "God with us" if we do these great things.

Not "God with us" if we don't screw up.

Not "God with us" if we are good enough.

Us.  The prostitute and the priest.  The housewife and the day laborer.  The American and the Arab.  The broken and the beautiful. 

God with us.

Immanuel.

So beautifully and simply.  God with us.  

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).”

Matthew 1:23 NIV