Here I am wishing you Merry Christmas when it’s almost New Year. I’ve never been really good at synchronizing real life with digital life. Especially when real life consists of jollof rice, spicy plantains, good ol’ turkey (or goat or chicken, whatever you fancy), nutty chocolates, cakes, crumbles, and everything else in between. Plus that was happening live. Yes, that’s my disclaimer for being MIA. So even though it’s a bit awkward, I’m still wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
But thinking about all this awkwardness- it took me a while trying to come up with a plausible excuse and in the end I decided to just go for the truth- always works, right?! All this made me start thinking about the first Christmas. And then rewind some more to the nine months before the first Christmas. I think that was when the most awkward conversation must have happened.
Mary: Hello J. Can we talk?
Joseph: I hope it’s not about the wedding guest list again.
Mary: No. it’s something else.
Joseph: Okay…
Mary: I’m coming over.
Joseph: Sure babe.
Fifteen minutes later…
Mary: You know I love you, right?
Joseph nods. I love you, too. To the moon and back.
She smiles. They are looking into each other’s eyes. Any day now, they’ll be married.
Joseph: What is it? What did you want to talk to me about?
She takes a deep breath.
Mary: I saw an angel.
His eyes become round like saucers. You saw an angel?
She nods. An angel of the Lord. And he told me I was going to have a baby.
Joseph: Oh wow. Then our baby is going to be special! He is excited. No one can remember the last time an angel appeared to anyone.
Mary: No, not our baby. The Lord’s baby.
Say what? Joseph’s head is tilted an angle, trying to understand the words that are coming out of his fiancée’s mouth. So he repeats what she has just said: God’s baby?
She nods. And then she leans forward. Her voice is now a whisper. I am pregnant. I just found out.
Whoa! Joseph jumps. What? Say that again. No, don’t say it… What the…! What are you talking about?
Mary is calm, but her eyes show that she is also a bit worried. This is not the cool, calm guy she’s engaged to. So she rushes to explain. His name will be called Jesus, the Son of the Highest. But of course, I am a virgin so I asked him how on earth this was going to happen and he said that the Holy Spirit will come on me and the baby will be called the Son of God. He even told me all about my cousin Elizabeth. I didn’t say anything to you at first but it’s true. I’m pregnant!
By this time, poor Joseph probably thinks his wife-to-be is nuts. Something definitely happened and she doesn’t know how to tell him. So he tries to ask questions, gently, because he loves her but Mary is sticking to her story. It’s crazy! So when Mary leaves, Joseph starts to think of ways to troubleshoot this problem. In the end, he decides he’s going to dump her, but since he loves her and he’s a decent guy, he won’t tweet about it. Maybe he’ll even maintain his relationship status for a while just keep it on the down low.
All this while, I am wondering; God, why didn’t you just send another angel to Joseph before he found out that Mary was pregnant? Why did you allow her to have this terribly awkward conversation with Joseph? I still don’t have the answer to that but what I know is that God did send an angel to Joseph in a dream. And guess what? They lived happily ever after. Phew. That is why nine months later, there was a drama-free Christmas. God came through.
And the drama of Christmas is just that. God coming through for us in every way, whether or not it’s trouble of our own making, Christ came to save.
If you are like me, you like a drama-free life. But hey, life happens and you might find yourself dealing with your own share of drama right now- family drama, boyfriend/girlfriend drama, work drama, school drama, even church drama (ouch). Whatever it is, know that there’s no awkward situation God cannot sort out. After all, the same angel said to Mary, For with God, nothing will be impossible. It may look and feel crazy right now (we live in crazy times), but God’s got you.
So are you ready to dive into 2022 or what?
Happy New Year fabulously blessed people. And thank you for staying with me. Stay high on grace!
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HIGH ON GRACE 