Here we go! It’s Christmas season. Trees are going up. Decorations are being hung. Parties and events put on calendars. All leading to a December 25th celebration. What we do each year resembles the spirt of heaven as they prepared for our Saviors birth. Imagine with me the gasps of Heaven as our Lord begins to unfold His plans. From what family, what lineage will you come? A king? A priest? A politician or religious leader? God responds, no, a twelve-year-old girl who will be engaged to a fourteen-year-old young man. A puzzled look. A frown and questions. Are you serious? Don’t you realize the ramifications? What people will say? God says, I’m fully aware. This way people will know that I can come to anyone in any situation. Another angel, sensing tension, asked from what city will you come? Jerusalem? Hebron? No, Nazareth. More puzzled looks and questions. Why Nazareth? It’s off the beaten path? A poor and forsaken area? God replies, yes, so I can identify with those who are forgotten and broken. As the Heavens grow more still, another asks. When will you go? God responds, around the time that Caesar Augustus takes a census. More gasps. Gabriel says, you realize that means that she will be nearly full term? That they will have to travel for Nazareth to Bethlehem. The weather, it will be cold and wet. Yes, I know, but I will be with them and as I am with them, I will be with others who face hardships. The story of Christmas is not so far from your story. A story with ebb and flow, twist and turns. Christmas. It teaches us to never lose faith and never lose hope. God is with us.