Yes, I was was Christmas shopping two weeks before Christmas and again a week before Christmas along with everyone else in town. I hate shopping to begin with, and especially at Christmas time. To make matters even worse, I was shopping with a VERY limited budget this year. The things I really wanted to get the girls were well out of my price range. So, as I shopped a continued to develop a bad attitude. Keeping a running total in my head, trying to think of things they would want that were cheap, and trying to do it all in a way to make it look like they are getting more than they really are began to take a toll on me. Add all this to the stress of planning the last week of school before Christmas break and I was very much NOT in the Christmas mood.

And then Bethany called and her friends had stolen Baby Jesus again. And God began to prick my soul. Have I allowed all of this commercialism, the stress of teaching, and the struggles of daily living steal my Baby Jesus? Have I allowed myself to lose the wonderment of the miracle of God himself coming down to earth for the sole purpose of dying just because he loves me? Have I allowed years of tradition to water down the glory of the story first told by the shepherds? Would I recognize the Messiah if I had been there 2000 years ago, or would I have been like the Jewish people, knowing the truth but not seeing it when it was staring me in the face?

Lord, forgive me for my unbelieving heart and for allowing the stress and routine of life to "steal my Baby Jesus". As we start this final week before the celebration of God's miraculous incarnation, let us all look again with open eyes to the birth of our Savior and the necessity of his coming. May you all keep Baby Jesus in the spotlight this Christmas season and truly know the joy of his love!