Away In A Manger

I always have very tender feelings this time of year when I'm pregnant, and since I became a mother. As I think about the reason we celebrate Christmas and the scene that took place when our Savior was born I can't help but think of Mary and the important role she played and what she must have felt as she help her son that first Christmas night. I also think differently and often about our Heavenly Father and the gift He gave each of us of His Son.


There is absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for the powerful feelings I'd have toward my son as a mother. I heard people talk about it, but just didn't get it, until I became one. It's beyond my ability to describe with words. When I think about how amazing it feels and how incredible and overpowering the love is, it's hard to not think of a loving Father in Heaven and how much He must love us. He is the ultimate parent. His love is unconditional, His mercy freely given, and His view of who we really are is greater than we can imagine.

With all my soul I'll do my best to be that parent to my sons. I want them to always feel safe in our home, no matter what. I want them to want to come here to escape the world and it's harsh judgments and lack of love. My arms will always be outstretched and my mercy given freely. When they are in my presence and in our home I want them to feel warm, comforted, loved, important, free of judgment, and most of all safe. I want them to come here first when they face fears, challenges and mistakes. I want to help them see the greatness in them they may not see themselves.

My Father in Heaven provides that for me every minute of every day. He forgives, He forgets, He gives me a second, third, and four hundredth chance. He teaches, He comforts, He cares, He guides, He never gives up on me and He is always there. He makes more of me and my life than I ever could on my own. I'm positive he'd want me to provide that for the sweet boys he's placed in my care.

I find this excerpt from a talk given by Elder Melvin J Ballard to be a most powerful reminder of the love our Father in Heaven has for us and an incredible reminder of the gift we were so freely given and remember especially at this time of year. It reads:

"...our Father had with him his Son, our Redeemer, in the eternal worlds, faithful and true for ages, standing in a place of trust and honor, and the Father loved him dearly, and yet he allowed this well-beloved Son to descend from his place of glory and honor, where millions did him homage, down to the earth, a condescension that is not within the power of man to conceive. He came to receive the insult, the abuse, and the crown of thorns. God heard the cry of his Son in that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when, it is said, the pores of his body opened and drops of blood stood upon him, and he cried out: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.”

I ask you, what father and mother could stand by and listen to the cry of their children in distress, in this world, and not render aid and assistance? I have heard of mothers throwing themselves into raging streams when they could not swim a stroke to save their drowning children, rushing into burning buildings, to rescue those whom they loved.

We cannot stand by and listen to those cries without its touching our hearts. The Lord has not given us the power to save our own. He has given us faith, and we submit to the inevitable, but he had the power to save, and he loved his Son, and he could have saved him. He might have rescued him from the insult of the crowds. He might have rescued him when the crown of thorns was placed upon his head. He might have rescued him when the Son, hanging between the two thieves, was mocked with, “Save thyself, and come down from the cross. He saved others; himself he cannot save.” He listened to all this. He saw that Son condemned; he saw him drag the cross through the streets of Jerusalem and faint under its load. He saw that Son finally upon Calvary; he saw his body stretched out upon the wooden cross; he saw the cruel nails driven through hands and feet, and the blows that broke the skin, tore the flesh, and let out the life’s blood of his Son. He looked upon that.

In the case of our Father, the knife was not stayed, but it fell, and the life’s blood of his Beloved Son went out. His Father looked on with great grief and agony over his Beloved Son, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head, and hid in some part of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when he might have saved his Son, I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. I rejoice that he did not interfere, and that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without him, without his sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into his presence. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men."

I absolutely love the new perspective being a mother at Christmas has provided me. I absolutely love the gift my son is in my life and the gift I have of being his momma. And I absolutely love and appreciate more than I can say, the most precious and important gift given to us all, the gift of our Savior. I'm thankful for the incredible power He can be in our lives to bring us joy, comfort, strength, wisdom beyond our own, undeniable and unconditional love, and peace in our hearts, minds, and lives.

Merry Christmas.