Merry Christmas!

Jared and I spend a lot of time during the Christmas season teaching our littles about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  After all, He is the reason we have Christmas.  I have been a little frustrated with my little Sadie this year, as I have felt she is missing the point with all things related to Christmas.  Sunday, in Relief Society, the sister who was teaching our lesson was talking about this very thing.  She was telling about working so hard to teach her littles about the birth of Jesus Christ.  In December her home teachers came and, of course, asked the children why we have Christmas.  They all replied with, "presents"!  I could totally relate to her as she spoke of her frustration.  Then she said something that I really needed to hear.  She said, "It took me a while to learn that the children had to learn the right answer, so they could give the right answer, but also so they could feel the right answer in their hearts."  It struck me so deeply that I cried.  In my head, I often compare Sadie to my other girls.  I have spent a lot of time this month doing this very thing.  However, in my comparing I have forgotten one incredibly important thing.  She is seven, they are twelve and fourteen.  Just like we learn line upon line, she too, will learn line upon line.  Here a little, there a little.  It's my job to just keep teaching her and to be patient with her, remembering that she's still little.

Every Christmas Eve I share a story with my family that I read in a book by Emily Freeman.  She tells of her young family when they had just two children.  They could not afford to purchase a manger scene, but she wanted one so badly that she took a small job for a few afternoons to save the money for one.  She purchased a porcelain set that portrayed children dressed in nativity clothes.  She brought it home, set it up in their family room and explained to her two small children that they couldn't touch the set because it was quite fragile.  The following morning she came down the stairs to find all the figurines squished into the manger haphazardly.  She patiently fixed the arrangement and called her young son, Caleb in to again explain that he could not touch the set.  She says, "Caleb was such an obedient child, he always had been, and I knew this would not happen again."  She continues, "Imagine my surprise when I walked down the stairs the next morning and found the scene in the same disarray as the morning before.  This time I went right in and got Caleb.  Setting him in front of the displaced nativity I asked, Did you touch the manger?  He looked up at me with his round blue eyes and replied, "Yes."  I asked him, do you remember you're not supposed to touch Mommy's manger?  Again the reply was the same, "Yes."  Then why did you touch it, I questioned.  "Because they can't see Jesus," was his simple reply.   I looked carefully at the manger and realized that perhaps there was some order to the disarray.  His clumsy little hands had tried to place every figure in a circle around the most important piece of the set--the baby in the manger.  Crowded into the small stable, each had a perfect view of the baby.  Everyone could see Jesus.  It was a profound lesson  Needless to say, the display remained that way for the rest of the season, and has every year since then.  Interestingly, once each of the figures had been carefully placed in a circle around the baby, Caleb never touched the set again.  He was content with the arrangement.  The most important figure had become the focus."

I love this story, I read it every year at the beginning of the season as a reminder to myself to make Christ be the focus of my heart.  While the gifts, baking and family gatherings are such an important part of the season, I want to always remember to put my heart where it matters most.  This season has been a different one for me.  I chose to do some things to make the month more simple.  It turned out to be the best thing I could do.  I have been blessed with many peaceful evenings in my little living room to ponder the teachings of my Savior and His love for me.  It has been a great blessing to me.

I hope this Christmas season has been as enjoyable for all of you as it has been for me.  Christmas fills my heart with gratitude for that tiny babe in Bethlehem.  I am eternally grateful for His life, His example and His love that he showed when he made the ultimate sacrifice for me and you.  May you feel His peace and love for all of you this Christmas season and always is my prayer.

Merry Christmas!  Love the Walkers

Mary, The Handmaid of the Lord

We learned about Mary tonight during family home evening.  Maybe it's because I'm a mother that I love to read and ponder about Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.  I'm fascinated by this woman who, at such a young age, was visited by an angel and given the responsibility of being a mother to the son of God.  As I was reading in Luke yesterday I was struck by a few verses.  In Luke 1:46 it starts, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hatch rejoiced in God my Savior.  For he that is mighty hath done to me great things and holy is his name."   I'm most certainly not a scholar on what Luke meant by these verses, but it sounded to me like Mary was bearing her testimony.  I love that we have this testimony of hers in our scriptures to draw strength from. 

I took a minute to tell my kids how Mary pondered after the birth of the Savior.  In Luke it tells of Christ's birth and then follows with all the visitors that came.  Angels proclaimed the birth to the shepherds, the shepherds came and worshipped the new babe and then went abroad sharing the good news.  After this is when it says,  "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."  This time when I read this verse I immediately thought of the births of each of my children.  It seems after a new baby is born you are visited by scores of people.  The happy grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and, of course, any siblings.  With each one of my children, after all the visitors went home and Jared left the hospital for the night, I would sit in the hospital and hold my newest little bundle.  I would marvel at all their little fingers and toes, and stare at their sweet little faces and kiss their little heads.  I remember being so grateful that they had arrived safely, as it seemed most of my deliveries were cursed with some difficulty or another.  I remember thinking how close they were to heaven.  They had just left the presence of Heavenly Father, and I always wondered if they could still see beyond the veil. 

I can't help but wonder if Mary had some of those same thoughts.  As she held her new son, the son of God, did she marvel at the miracle He was?  Did she cuddle him and kiss his little head and thank a loving Heavenly Father that he had arrived safely.  I wonder if she knew what he would ultimately do for all of us.  Did she know He would give his life so that others might live?  I'm sure she knew of His divine mission and possibly held him a little closer and a little tighter, knowing his would not be an easy road. 

How grateful I am for the example of Mary, a loving and devoted mother and daughter of God.  She was a most righteous woman and a powerful example of good.  We finished our family night by pondering and each of us sharing.  If we had been given the opportunity to be present the night of Jesus Christ's birth, who would we have wanted to be and why?  The children's answers vary every year.  I love to hear who they would choose.  I feel like it's a tiny little insight into who they are and what they have become across the year.  It puts a smile on my face and fills my heart with warmth and gladness.  I am truly blessed to be a mother, the greatest job in the world.

**Picture She Shall Bring Forth A Son, by Liz Lemon Swindle**

I Was Not His Father, He Was Mine

Each year we spend several nights during December talking about different people who were present at the birth of Jesus Christ.  It's a tradition we started a few years ago that we have come to love.  I love studying about Christ's birth and I love sharing the things I learn with my cute little family. 

Tonight we discussed Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Christ.  We imagined how he must have felt wandering through Bethlehem looking for a place for he and Mary to stay.  I asked the everyone how they thought he felt.  Jared said, "inadequate" and Ethan said, "sad".  I think they were both right.  I think there were probably many times in Joseph's life that he felt inadequate and sad.  His was not an easy calling.  Yet, he didn't shirk from his duties.  I definitely think there is a lesson to be learned there.  Even when times are difficult and we're sad, when we feel inadequate to accomplish the task that has been placed before us, we turn our face towards God and through Him all things are possible.

We also discussed how Joseph was filled with a serving heart.  He surely spent that night serving Mary and the newborn Christ child.  His service certainly didn't end there.  He spent his life serving this child that technically wasn't even his son.  What love he must have had for our Heavenly Father and what love he must have had for our Savior.  Surely he is a man to be honored and revered. 

We began a new tradition in our home tonight.  I have given one of our children a Christmas jingle bell to use as their symbol of service.  They will do a secret act of service for someone in our family.  When they are finished they will leave the jingle bell on that person's pillow and then it will be their turn to do an act of service.  Why are we doing this, you might ask.  When we were discussing tonight I asked everyone what Jesus would want us to give this season and Ethan said, "Kindness and our hearts".  I couldn't agree more. 

(Above picture by Simon Dewey)