Brokenness and Birth

It's been an eventful week around here, not just because of the busyness of all the last-minute details and food preparations before Christmas. The boys are sick, and Xave came down with such a bad case of croup we were ready to rush him to the ER in the middle of the night two days ago because he was working so hard to breathe. Happy to report he's getting better (thanks to modern medicine and God's healing hand!), the gifts have been wrapped (and opened), the food's made (and almost all eaten), and I'm finally getting ready to blog!

Other than busy, the theme of this week was broken. I can't even begin to tell you all of the things around the house that the boys managed to somehow break. I blogged about it here. The final straw came when I broke one of our good Mikasa cereal bowls we received for our wedding (we are now down to two for a family of five). As I was wiping up the broken ceramic shards, and reflecting on all the other special things that got destroyed this week, I realized sometimes brokenness can be a good thing.

When we come to the end of who we are and get a good long raw look at ourselves and realize how desperately we truly need a Savior, this kind of brokenness--this falling on our knees before our God and begging for His mercy and thanking Him for His grace--this kind of brokenness is indeed a good thing.

This Christmas, brokenness reminds me how grateful I am for the Birth.

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10, 11

And the God who spoke is speaking still
And the God who came still comes
And the miracle that happened still happens in the heart
that will believe
And we receive the miracle of Christmas

So come to Bethlehem again and see
The one who's come to rescue us, our Savior and King
Bring your past, the joy, the sorrow, all your hope
to find tomorrow
And hear the words again, fear not and know that
God is near..." ("The Miracle of Christmas" by Steven Curtis Chapman)

Merry Christmas!