CHRISTMAS RAW AND SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL WEEK 66 QU0TE 66

"While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough."
Luke 2 : 6 - 7  The Bible - New Century Version.

Parenting in the raw, pure and simple. I can boast that my last 3 children were home birthed in simple circumstances, but really and truly my situation was nothing in comparison to the one in Bethlehem. If the movie, "The Nativity Story", is authentic to the Bible's sketchy comments about Jesus' birth, it seems Joseph and Mary were 'uneducated' people who were of an ethnic group that were completely socially and politically oppressed - could say victimized, with unequal rights and no 'voice' in comparison to the race that ruled them. On arrival in Bethlehem with their sparse worldly goods, their vulnerability really became obvious, with them finding nothing but a poor-man's animal area to be the delivery suite for their first child. They were not seasoned parents and had no doctor, midwife or helper. Health departments of the twenty-first century would medically condemn the site as having sub-standard conditions for humans to live in, let alone to deliver a baby in.
But apart from all the difficulties and negatives, something far more powerful and effectual was going on. These two inexperienced people were committed to each other, their baby and what was ahead. They loved each other.
Does this describe you and your family - LOVE?
Love in the difficult times
Love in the lacks
Love in the misunderstandings
Love in the rush
Love when hard pressed
Love in the let downs
Love in ___________________
Giving and receiving love can happen whilst in the most horrifying or simple situation. It is the most essential need of every human, parent and child.

This year ~ if you are upset because your Christmas is going to be less 
                     grand than usual
                 ~ if financially your struggling 
                 ~ if friends or family have failed and rejected you
                 ~ if your living under oppression
                 ~ if you are simply in a 'bad place'
Matthew 11 : 28 - 30 is for you, " Are you tired? Worn out? ..... Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. .... I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me and you 'll learn to live freely and lightly." (the Message Bible version)
This is an offer from God, not a person, so you can trust that it is valid. The offer is that he will love you with true affection and teach you how to love others around you in this way. Not a limited human love, rather a supernatural, God love. 
Jesus' birth at Christmas is an historical record of love.
THISWEEKWITHTHEKIDS ~ why not read the true account of why we celebrate Christmas, to your family?  Luke 2 : 1 - 20
HAVE A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS WITH YOUR FAMILY
Cathy