a baby was born on a cold, dark night

I am excited to be partnering with my friend Rebekah Gilbert for her “Spirit of Christmas” series. She is hosting various writers to share Christmas thoughts and memories on her blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, leading up to Christmas. Today, she is hosting me.

Here’s an excerpt of my post:

Thousands of years ago, a baby was born on a cold dark night in Bethlehem to a virgin woman and her fiancé. When they knocked on the door of the lodge, there was no room. All that was left was a place in the stables. They were probably hungry and very tired. The woman was giving birth, and she did so amongst the animals. In entered the greatest of all. Emmanuel – God with us.

He was laid in swaddling cloth in the animals’ feed bowl.

His mother was pregnant before she was married, and her condition had been not without cost, but she took on the burden of being an out of wedlock mother with great joy and full submission.

His dad took the burden of believing that something wildly amazing and unexpected was happening. He took the responsibility of caring for this woman he was pledged to marry and this baby growing in her belly, and he did so acknowledging fully that the child was not his own.

So in the beginning if you will, there were only two willing to clothe and feed the “God with us.” Mary and Joseph.

Click over to read the rest of the post.

Linking with these beautiful ladies: Michelle DeRusha, Laura Boggess, Ann Voskamp, Jennifer Lee, Jen Ferguson, and Emily Wierenga.