It Happened at Church - A Christmas Surprise

It happened when I wasn’t expecting it. 

In fact, for a few moments during that lovely Christmas Day service, surrounded by all the trappings of the season, I had forgotten I was pregnant. I had moved past the queasy months of early pregnancy. In a comfortable interim, I had not yet entered the awkward, uncomfortable final months before our baby was born. As yet there was no visible evidence of the child growing within me.

And so it came, quietly, unexpectedly, so subtly that by the time I realized what was happening, it was over.  The choir reverently sang the songs of the Christmas season, and the pastor proclaimed the glorious hope of Christmas, “For unto us, a Child is born. Unto us, a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6), but my focus was internal, tense and waiting.  

And then it happened again. 

Deep inside me, I felt the tiniest flicker.  Like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, I felt my baby move for the first time.

Enthralled by the miracle of life exhibiting itself so personally, I gradually became aware of the pastor’s words, “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:39-41a).

Like Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary and pregnant mother of John the Baptizer, I too felt my baby leap inside of me. Over two thousand years ago, Elizabeth had stood in the presence of the woman who carried her unborn Savior and cried, “When the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside of me!” (Luke 1:44). 

That Christmas day, hearing God’s word preached and singing songs of praise, I, too, had stood in the presence of my Savior. His name is Emmanuel, God with us.  And in the quietness of our worship, my baby leaped for joy.

My prayer for you this Christmas season is that you, like Elizabeth, will recognize that you stand in the presence of your Savior. May you, too, be filled with joy.  

 Merry Christmas!

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