GREAT WITH CHILD!



In December of 1979 I was feeling every syllable of "GREAT WITH CHILD"! I was slightly overdue with my fifth child and longing for this baby to finally be born. I read with great empathy the story told of the birth of Jesus. I could feel each bump that Mary, the mother of our Savor, felt as she rode along on the back of the donkey, on her way to be registered for a census. I just knew that her ankles were swollen as they dangled at the sides of little donkey. I could hear the urgency in her voice as, for the hundredth time she begged Joseph to stop long enough for her to get some RELIEF! I knew she felt every mile of their eighty mile trip to Bethlehem.

But every mile and everyday brought her closer to the much anticipated birth of this child she carried. No amount of misery could diminish the joy of this glorious thought for Mary or me, for that matter.

Mary's day came in a stable in Bethlehem because there was no room for them in the Inn. Her son Jesus our Savior was born and she lay Him in a manger. She forgot the miseries of the eighty mile trip she had just been on, she forgot the pain of birth and even forgot about the smell of the stable. She remembered the Angel telling her that her son would be the Messiah but for this night He was her beloved baby boy and the bible says she pondered all these things.

My day came December 10, 1979 when my sweet baby girl, Melinda Jill was born. The pure joy of that occasion made me forget those last few weeks and the miseries of pregnancy. The soft coo of my sweet baby girl brought sheer contentment! She was my joy! That day, as today, I ponder all these things.

Happy Birthday Mendy Jill!


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