Merry Christmas

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

A stable isn't the most sanitary place to have a baby.

A feeding bin--cold and covered with animal slobber--doesn't make the best crib.

Shepherds were the only ones who came to welcome Christ. Not the cute little children with the clean lambs and smiling, adorable faces. These shepherds were like today's garbage men--rough and dirty.

All around, life milled in the crowded city. Pickpockets wove in and out of the crowd. Blindly, everyone went on, not knowing that if they could have only stopped to peek into a dirty stable, they would have seen a miracle that the world had never seen before.

But that's who Christ came to save. The blind, the selfish, the doomed for death.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.--Isaiah 9:2

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.--Isaiah 9:6

Have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Izori