He was seven pounds, nineteen inches long, and had the most beautiful chubby cheeks and smooth skin I had ever seen. I saw his jet-black hair and couldn’t help but think about my own husband’s thick black hair. I had been waiting for this day for over seven years. It was a day I never thought I would get to have. It was the day I met my son Isaac.
But as I laid eyes on him and tears streamed down my face, I looked over at his birth mom and my heart was emotionally divided in two. How could I have such joy while also feeling so much sorrow and grief? I felt like my heart was ripping in two. Even now, more than a year later, it’s hard for me to put that day into words. I still can’t believe that my son Isaac was chosen by God to be adopted by my husband and me.
I often think back to this day, the day I became Isaac’s mom, and I think about the joy and sorrow I felt in that moment. As all the emotions wash over me again, there is one thing that the Lord presses upon my heart: this is probably exactly how God felt the day Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem. He must have felt such joy as he watched Mary give birth to a beautiful baby boy named Jesus, and yet have such sorrow in sending his one and only son to be crucified for the sins of the world. On that seemingly insignificant night, God was actually sacrificing his son so that he could adopt you and me. This adoption would be possible through faith in that baby, who would grow to become a man, Jesus Christ.
As you sit around your Christmas tree and sing songs and read stories about Santa Claus, let us remember to reflect on the indescribable love that God has for us. Let us remember that God loved us so much that he was willing to go through the joy of watching Jesus be born of a virgin, live a sinless life, be rejected and hated by the very people he died for, be crucified on a cross, be separated from his Father, and be raised again so that we can be called his sons and daughters. This, Brothers and Sisters, is reason to celebrate!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – Love Rachelle
