Last Installment
Joseph knew he had married a special woman when Mary didn't immediately start to complain about what was lacking in the stable. She took the quilts she brought with her and laid them carefully over the floor which she had carefully swept. She asked Joseph if he wouldn't mind getting some more water in the skins they used on their journey. They had enough food for several days. Mary was content because she didn't have to face the quizzical stares and hushed tones of gossipy women in this new place like she had in Nazareth.
On the fifth afternoon of arriving Mary looked at Joseph and said, "It looks like I am going to have this child this afternoon." Joseph started timing Mary's contractions. An hour or two went by with contractions every fifteen minutes. Joseph knew that he was going to have to help with this childbirth. He'd already learned that the town's two midwives had gone with their husbands to their birthplaces for the census. If he'd been in Nazareth Mary's mother or one of townswomen would have stepped in to help. He looked around the stable. There were some fairly clean looking milk rags that were drying over one of corrals in the stable. He took some straw, the cleanest he could find, and placed it into a pile.
As the hours went on Mary's contractions got closer. Joseph knew when they got to three minutes apart that it would not be much longer until the baby came. The most he could do for Mary was to encourage her as she endured the intense labor pains. Finally she gave one final push and the little fellow made his appearance into the world. Joseph tied the umbilical cord and used the sharpest tool he had to cut it. He took some of the water and washed the newborn. Joseph wrapped the tiny baby up and placed him in Mary's arms. She nursed the new born. Following Mary's careful instructions he carefully placed the newborn in the straw in the manger.
Mary, sighed, "I am so exhausted as she laid back on her pallet on the dirt floor. She drifted off to sleep. She had been asleep for a few hours. The sounds of several voices woke her out of her much needed rest. She saw some shadowy figures staring into the manger's door. " Whose that," she whispered to Joseph. He'd been trying to get these shepherds to lower their voices so as not to wake the baby or Mary. "He cleared his throat and said,"Well these are shepherds from outside of town"
They have the most fantastical story I've ever heard, he exclaimed. "Come closer he told them," as he moved them towards Mary. "Tell her what you just told me,"he urged them.
The amazed shepherds told of the visit by the angel and the sight of thousands of angels saying Glory to God, They related that they'd been told that God had sent Peace on Earth through a baby born in Bethlehem. They'd followed the angel's instructions on how to find the babe in Bethlehem. They'd come to worship the baby Emmanuel*. Their excitement knew no bounds. They scurried away to tell everyone they knew about the most unusual night of their lives.
Mary and Joseph looked at each other in wonderment. They were in the no star hotel manger with the best and brightest gift from God to the earth.
Now Dear Reader; The question I have for you is, will you be as inquisitive as the shepherds and seek this Babe, the Son of God, Emmanuel, for yourself?
Some of the Greatest Gifts from God may come
wrapped in the most unlikely circumstances and surroundings.
Based on the Advent Story in Luke 1 and Matthew 2 and 3
* Emmanuel means God with us
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