December 25th

Christmas

              But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.  Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.  And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.

Micah 5:2-5

             One of the great themes of Christmas is incredible gifts coming from tiny beginnings.  Bethlehem was a small community from a tiny tribe in an insignificant strip of land in the Middle East.  And yet, from that tiny village came the greatest gift the world has ever known.  Jesus, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Creator of the Universe, was born in a humble stable instead of a royal palace.  The Chosen One was not catered to by Prophets and Servants.  His first visitors were shepherds who were coming in straight from the fields.  Yet from these simple, humble, small beginnings the Word of God spoke freedom to the Earth.

            Small, humble beginnings are right where we live.  We take small steps.  We make small progress.  The developmental steps that our kids make are often so small that other people do not notice them.  We were ecstatic when my son was willing to start eating rice.  We were amazed when he finally added a third sound to his speech.  We almost cried when he used the bathroom on his own for the first time.  Everyone else just shrugged their shoulders when we told them, but we were not sure we would ever reach those milestones.

            Sometimes small steps stack onto small steps which stack onto small steps and eventually we can look back and see substantial progress.  Math has been like that for us.  We spent hours crying over 2^nd grade math; now he is working on pre-calculus without my supervision.  Sometimes there are small steps that make no progress for a season until there is a huge leap forward.  Reading was like that.  My son had little interest in language for a long time.  And then one day when he was 3 he started reading; reading fast and remembering what he had read.  He loves encyclopedias and game guides and trivia.  He loves absorbing information and making connections between things.  I don’t know where it will lead or what he will do with this skill, but it all started with small steps that blossomed into something big.

            As you celebrate Christmas, or endure Christmas depending on your day, look for the little things to celebrate.  Look for where your child is further along than they were last year.  Look for how they have grown and how you have grown, even by the tiniest of increments.  It is from tiny, humble beginnings that God blessed us on Christmas and it is from these same beginnings that He will bless us moving forward.

            Merry Christmas, my friends, and may God bless us, every single one.  

           

A moment to reflect:

Where has your child made progress since last year?  What are the tiny steps that they have taken?