At this time of year, I have often found myself thinking of how things were when I was a kid.  My mother always made the season of Christmas magical for us, putting up decorations and our big tree early, displaying lights all across the front of our house for neighbors (and many others) to enjoy, and doing all sorts of other preparations that heightened our anticipation of The Day for weeks before.  Our school and church activities centered on getting ready, too.  It was a time of wonder and expectation like no other.

As I got older, it became more a gauntlet to get through, working to enjoy moments here and there between the rush and bustle of making things “magical” for my own children.  There were fewer moments of wonder at the season, and more periods of wondering how we would get it all done and pay for it afterward.  It made me wish I could go back in time to when things were simpler and more joy-filled.  Now that the whole family is “adult,” and we don’t have grand-kids, there seems to be less wonder altogether.

It got me thinking of the One for whom this celebration was originally intended.  Jesus came into time from eternity, according to what we are told in Scripture.  Even though “through him all things were made” (including time, John 1:3), He came back into time at His humble birth.  He moved from His position of Eternal Creator to become an infant in a humble feeding trough in a backwater village in ancient Israel. 

I smile to think of the infant Immanuel reaching to grasp His earthly step-father’s finger, like my own little ones have done.  I recall the surprised smiles when someone played peek-a-boo with a little baby, and imagine the Everlasting Father (ala Isaiah 9:6) responding with just such a startled and happy giggle.  I picture the expression of wonder as the Almighty God looks with infant eyes upon a toy contrived by a loving relative.  I really cannot fathom the whole concept, yet this season reminds us annually that it was so!

Jesus chose to do this amazing thing!  He willingly became a vulnerable newborn in a less-than-welcoming world, and did so with love.  How might it have felt for the Prince of Peace to cry aloud with new lungs in response to the loss of His mother’s enveloping womb?  What must it have been like for the Omniscient One to feel the coarse hair of a donkey’s face for the first time?  It’s a whole new world of wonder for me, as I explore the possibilities.  I cannot imagine, and yet I must.  He did it for us.  How can I be thankful enough if I do not at least consider the possibilities?

Matthew reminds us that the Heavenly Father foretold it, recording “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’– which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matt. 1:22-23 NIVO).  Seriously?  God with us?  There’s a concept to inspire wonder, no matter how you look at it.

So, this year I am wondering all over again.  When I see my wife’s infant grand-niece, I imagine the Wonderful Counselor discovering how it is to live as one of His counselees, learning all over again for the first time what his creation is all about through the eyes of a babe-in-arms.  How humble!  How unexpected!  How wonderful! 

Here I am, back in wonder.  It’s a different kind of wonder, but wonderful nonetheless.  May you be blessed with wonder this Christmas season, too!