Merry Christmas

“Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Once again we take this time to celebrate our savior’s birth. I am amazed every year to remember and focus on the fact that a baby is the symbol of hope to our lost world. In that 6 pounds of complete humanity, is also complete God.

I found myself thinking today about Mary-Mother of the Savior. The mother of my best friend, my Lord, my King. I wonder if to her, was he just her baby? Sure, she knew the magnitude his birth held. But, he was just her baby boy. The baby she labored and birthed in the hay next to cattle and horses. Did it break her heart to have to lay him in a bed of straw that the animals ate from? How often did she question her ability to mother him? As a mother, sometimes I question myself-do I spend enough time with Sadie, do I show her enough love, am I raising her as the daughter of the King? Am I doing it right? I cannot imagine how Mary felt. But I do know that even in those moments she doubted her ability to mother the Most High, God had chosen her for this role In His son’s life as a man.

He has chosen Jordan and I to raise a little girl that we were able to have biologically. She brings joy to us every single day. But He has also chosen us to raise a child, if already born, who lives halfway across the world from us. I do not know the conditions he or she is living in right now. Is he warm? Is she hungry? I want so badly to fast track this process. I know my baby is out there. I can feel the space in my heart just waiting to see those big eyes meet mine for the first time. But I trust that God will use this time to prepare my heart to mother my adoptive child. God has chosen me as a mother and Jordan as a father.

This year, Sadie is in Kindergarten. She made a special Christmas gift in school and decided to give it to “The New Kid” (what she calls our future adoptive child). We hung the ornament on the tree tonight and as I watched her, all could think was “Next year, you will be closer to being home.”

My Savior was born in a manger. The hope of the world was in one six-pound baby some two thousand years ago on this night. Choirs of angels sang about him and filled the sky. Heaven burst open with joyous sounds.

We wish you a very merry Christmas. And we pray God will rain his blessings down on you for 2017. He has big things in store. I, for one, am excited to see what those are. Much love from the Dunns!