The Life-Changing Christmas Story

I've been thinking a lot about the Christmas story lately. It's such a familiar one that I think I have it mostly memorized. Some things have struck me about it, though, and I've been seeing it in a new way. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which was a "nowhere" town. It wasn't a prominent place or a great city. He was born to Mary, who wasn't royalty or anyone "important." Jesus was born in a barn. A BARN! The Creator of the entire universe, who could have been born in the biggest palace, was born in a barn with animals that don't usually smell good. Who were the first people the angels announced Jesus' birth to? Again, they could have gone to the kings + queens and all of the most important rulers, but they announced Jesus' birth to the shepherds. Shepherds were "nobodies" in those days. Oh, and when Herod found out about Jesus and was threatened by this new "king," he ordered that all of the baby boys 2 years old and under be killed in that area. The killings in Connecticut recently were horrendous and heartbreaking and I can't imagine that multiplied by 100 or however many little boys were killed. Nobody had heard a word from the Lord for 400 years and that was broken by a baby's cry. Jesus came during a very, very dark time to bring LIGHT! He left perfect heaven for this sin-filled earth to save us! I can't even put into words how grateful I am as I sit here with tears streaming down my face. My digestion problems have recently flared up really badly and I can't eat any Christmas treats this week as I'm on a super strict diet again. I could feel sorry for myself, and there have been moments when I have, but I have WAY too much to be thankful for as I see what Jesus has done for me. The magnitude of it blows me away! Merry Christmas everyone and praise God for who He is and what He has done!