My thoughts (Tammy Mills):

Check out this strange, but true story.

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Shopping Family Leaves Baby Behind
By Associated Press

MIDLAND, Texas – A 3-month-old baby was left unattended in a shopping cart for about an hour Sunday when her parents accidentally left her behind, police said. Shoppers noticed the abandoned baby at a Toys “R” Us store, Midland police Sgt. Alfredo Grimaldo said.

“It was a misunderstanding among family members,” Grimaldo said in Monday editions of the Midland Reporter-Telegram. “One man took the kids home and left the ladies to shop. But when he took the kids, he didn’t take the baby from the cart.”

The family members, who were traveling in different cars, didn’t realize what happened until they all got home and nobody had the baby, he said.

“We don’t think it was really a child abandonment issue. It was just a misunderstanding,” Grimaldo said.

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At first read, I wondered how anyone could “forget” their baby! But upon a bit of further reflection, I know exactly how they could forget! They were flying through the store getting all the bargains they needed. I’m sure they were in a major hurry to get home and sort and wrap presents. There were cookies that needed baking and stockings to be hung — and the tree wasn’t going to decorate itself! On and on the list of Christmas stuff goes.

I sometimes get busy enough with Christmas stuff that I too forget the baby — I forget why we celebrate. Two thousand or so years ago there was no room for Jesus, so he was born in a barn. This Christmas I must make room for Jesus! This Christmas I must put down the to-do list and remember where I’ve left Jesus.

But what about next week — or next month? Even when we get caught up in Christmas busy-ness, there are often reminders this time of year to not “forget the baby” — special church services, or devotionals like this one, or even Linus’ telling of the Christmas story on A Charlie Brown Christmas.

But when Christmas is over and the tinsel is all packed up, what will I do to remember Jesus each day?

Thought for the day: What can I do to not “forget the baby” this Christmas — and every day?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to start, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: Luke 2:8-20 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Lynnette Pullen):

Love is complex and ever evolving. Love, in every aspect of my life, requires so much from me, whether it’s love for God, my partner, my children, my neighbor and even my enemy. It both stretches and binds me, it uplifts yet grounds me. Somehow love weakens then simultaneously strengthens me. I can’t see, touch, or hear it but I feel it without using my hands. There is evidence of it all around yet it leaves no footprints. It is invisible to the physical eye but when it is absent it is apparent to even the blind. It requires the giver to be both resilient and vulnerable and the receiver to be wise yet forgetful. What a complex and beautiful thing love is!

When I read the story of the shepherds and the angels I wonder: Do they realize the act of love occurring at this very moment? I’m not sure that one realizes in the midst of a miracle the depth of love displayed. For example, does a spouse know the act of love a wife displays as she is giving birth to their child? Or does a child know the magnitude of love a parent has as they walk them through the trials of life? I think it’s probably something that we reflect upon and begin to understand as time unravels.

As I reflected on the birth of Christ, I began to see the depth and gravity of love it took for God to come to earth in the form of a baby. God placed him/herself in a state of ultimate vulnerability — a fragile infant. God could have come to earth as an adult, tall, strong, and fully mature. Yet God chose to walk the path we all walk, bear the trauma of birth and enter this world the same way we do. God could have called legions of angels for protection or had temples built for the arrival but no, Jesus was born in a manger. I read this passage and began to see the example of sacrificial love that God is showing me.

I know that there are many different opinions and beliefs over whether God is three spirits with one connected consciousness or one spirit with three separate extensions — or some other sort of variation. I admit my mind cannot grasp the concept of God’s existential make up. But I do know that the birth of Christ was divine, Christ himself is divine and loves us more than I will ever fathom. Sometimes I feel so silly when I think I’ve done something to interrupt God’s love for me and then I read and contemplate on acts of love like this. God’s love for us is everlasting and immeasurable.

I always tell my kids “There is nothing you could ever do or say that would make me stop loving you.” Now if I, in my faulty human flesh can be sure of that, how much more does God feel that way about us? Try saying this in the mirror “There is nothing I can do or say that will make God stop loving me.” Say it until you believe it — because it’s true.

Prayer for the day: God, please help us remember the beautiful and miraculous act of love you did for us by coming as a baby. Please help us to feel with our hearts and understand how much you care for us. Help us to then take that example and begin to show it with our loved ones and enemies. Give us strength to be vulnerable and sacrificial as we show our love to others. Open our eyes to your acts of love from the daily rising of the sun to the one time only birth of Jesus Christ so we can be constantly reassured of your love for us. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: Deuteronomy 10:17-19a (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Carla Peck):

For some of us, this Christmas is a year of firsts, some of which will not be easy: the first Christmas following the death of a loved one, the first Christmas after a divorce or break-up, the first Christmas without employment, or the first Christmas after receiving a complicated medical diagnosis.

Today’s scripture speaks of God’s love for humanity — specifically for the widowed and orphaned, or as I see it, those who have been left behind. I see hope for those left behind in today’s scripture.

It causes me to remember a Christmas card I received about six years ago. It was the first Christmas after my Dad had passed away. It was my first Christmas as a mid-life orphan — a person in midlife with no parents. The card I received was from a distant relative — one of those behind the scenes relatives that my Dad talked about from time to time, but we never spent much time with and I never knew that well.

This note was handwritten at the bottom of the card: “I know this Christmas will be difficult without your Dad but there are still beautiful people and beautiful things all around.”

At first, I was taken aback by the note. I felt like my right to sit in sadness was being diminished somehow. But the more I thought about it, I realized it was wise advice. It was the voice of wisdom and a message I needed to hear — a message of tough love from an angel. It reminded me of the love that surrounds us in spite of chaos we may feel within.

Angels are heavenly messengers who serve as a bridge between heaven and earth, reminding us that we are not alone. We are surrounded by all kinds of unseen spiritual power. Even in the darkest of times, we are surrounded by beautiful people and beautiful things.

Prayer for today: Thank you, God, for the joy you give us. We ask that as we wait for all your promises to come true, and for Christ to come again, that you would remain present with us. Help us today, and everyday, to worship you, to hear your word, and to do your will by sharing your joy with each other. We ask it in the name of the one who was born in Bethlehem. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: John 13:34-35 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Ben Lamb):

Years ago, actress Barbara Eden hosted a television special which focused on love. She began it with a tenderly-worded monologue about love and included a thought on how special the word is and mustn’t be used lightly. Her talk ended with, “Now, sit back and enjoy the show; you’re gonna LOVE it!” Clearly, she said the last part as a joke related to her monologue.

Yet, she touched on a valid point. The word love is, indeed, used lightly many times. How can a person have pure and genuine love for an inanimate object — a cookie, house, jewelry, or currency? I believe it’s impossible to have actual love for something unless the object of our affection is capable of loving us in return. I’m not saying the other being actually will return love; just that the other being is capable of it.

I’ve searched for the perfect definition of love, and believe Paul states it very well in 1 Corinthians 13. At the first Christmas, God gave to the world the gift of personified love and named that gift Jesus.

Throughout his recorded life, Jesus continually showed love to others. He exhibited the qualities of love found in 1 Corinthians, and even showed love as he was dying on the cross. I don’t know about you, but I would have a difficult time expressing any amount of love if I were unjustly being executed in a horrifically painful manner. However, Jesus managed to do it. (Luke 23:34, 42-43; John 19: 26-27)

When I ponder the mystery of why the Creator of all existence decided to give to humanity the ultimate love gift, I’m totally and indescribably overwhelmed internally with the sensation of love. It feels so wonderful that I want others to receive and experience this kind of love, too.

Thought for the day: Christmas can live within us every day of the year!

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: Psalm 89:1-4 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

All hope is lost; the world is a mess. There is nothing but fighting, greed, violence, chaos, and misery. Whatever hope I may have had that things would be different is gone now. The promises I have held fast to all my life are blown away by the wind of oppression. Nothing good can come from my miserable world; I may as well give up.

These could have been the words used by the Psalmist to convey his own feelings for what was happening in his world. Let’s face it; they could also be the words used to convey the way many folks feel today. The writer of this text was indeed living in a miserable time of conflict, war, danger, and all-around misery; but he didn’t let his circumstances get the best of him. Instead, he writes this psalm of praise to God for things yet to be accomplished, for things God has promised but not yet fulfilled. The psalmist is finding hope in God’s covenant.

Like David, the eventual king and author of this Psalm, you too are living under a time of divine covenant. God has promised steadfast love and faithfulness to you, a hopeful future and eternal divine presence. Even more, God’s covenant with you includes the peace, love, and hope you need today to make the kingdom of God real in our world today.

David did not have a covenant with God that was greater than the one God makes with you, if you accept it. Sure, we could sit around and bemoan the awful tragedies that have become commonplace in our world, we could spend all our time mourning what we do not have, we could deride God for making us feel like the time of covenant will never begin. Or, we could do what the Psalmist did and praise God for the promising future, for the covenant to be fulfilled for us, and for the present love and faithfulness of God.

Thought for the day: You are God’s chosen child with whom God has made an everlasting covenant. The time to live into that covenant is now! Rejoice in the promises of God because they are meant for YOU! Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the fourth week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Revelation, Birthing, Love, and Rejoicing.

Today’s scripture: Luke 2:1-7 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Julie Walsh):

I have not given birth to a child, but I’ve been around enough of my friends who have to know how difficult the final months of pregnancy can be. I hear much of the same sentiment: heartburn, backache, hot, sweaty, tired, sleepless, awkward, uncomfortable, moody, and irritable. If that were not enough, Mary was expected to travel a distance of about 80 miles in her condition, and I doubt that was by plane, train, or automobile!

Once arriving in Bethlehem, they found no room in the inn. Were any of my friends today in Mary’s situation, they would likely tell Joseph to buck up and find her a decent place to rest! Granted, we live in a Western culture with many luxuries that did not exist over 2,000 years ago. Yet, there was enough significance in this detail of the story that it was included in Luke’s writings.

Luke goes on to write, “And Mary whined.”

Wait, he didn’t say that at all. In fact, no reference was made about Mary’s emotions. When Mary first learned she was to become pregnant, she rejoiced in song before the Lord despite the implications her pregnancy could have had for her socially or for her impending marriage. She was probably beside herself by the time she was ready to give birth! It seems that nearly every new mother enthusiastically anticipating her first child is filled with joy and gratitude when gazing into her newborn’s face. So how much more celebratory must it have been knowing that the Messiah had been born, as the angel foretold? Mary’s lullabies must have been filled with rejoicing!

It is evident that Mary faced some great challenges and overcame mighty hurdles to give birth to Jesus Christ. All the while she rejoiced to God. What a magnificent reminder for us when our initial response may be just the opposite!

Prayer for the day: Lord, I have been complaining a lot lately about [blank]. Today, I bring a renewed spirit of rejoicing, and humbly ask that you teach me to dwell in this perspective today. Amen.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.