Danny walks in the door, right into a live nativity.

Katy-Grace is busily reenacting the story of Jesus’ birth. Reinacting with the decapitated shepherd, the earless donkey and the broken legged wise man, all pitifully repaired with a hot glue gun. Can we guess WHY our nativity characters have suffered such injuries? And get lost?…but I digress…

Katy-Grace with angel and Mary.

“You’re gonna have a baby. It will be Jesus.”

Mary runs to Joseph…

“Jophess! Jophess! I’m gonna have a BABY!!”

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And speaking of babies, Trinity plops down in a chair while I busily burn bread, stir soup and chop up a salad.

“Mommy? Can I ask you a question?’

‘Yah, honey’

“Can you have a baby without being married?”

Oh, no. I am not ready for this conversation.We just always have told them that you can’t have babies unless you are married. Can I keep diverting this question? Who is planting these ideas in her mind anyways?!?

“Well, honey, you can, but God tells us not to. We always need to get married first.”

“Well, how come Mary did, if God doesn’t want us to?”

Right. Forgot about that Bible. It doesn’t have a parental filter for not-quite-ready-to-give-the-full-answer-to-these kinds of questions.

Straight to PG-13 and R ratings right around the table during family devotions.

So, I explain how God put Baby Jesus in her belly, because that is the only way He could be perfect, perfect enough to be the sacrifice for our sins. He had to be God, for God Himself is the Only Righteous One. And righteousness is the requirement for us ever hoping to be in paradise. A righteousness FROM God apart from the law, that comes through faith in that little baby born out of wedlock. The one prophesied about hundreds and hundreds of years before.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

But of course, her explanation was

“God did it, Honey. So, its OK. God had planned to put Baby Jesus in Mary’s tummy without her being married. Its because God is Jesus’ real Father, not Joseph. Because if Jesus was just a man, then He couldn’t be Perfect, and be a Perfect Savior for us. God told us that this was going to be the sign that He was finally sending the Savior. ”

and she hops off the chair and returns to playing,

and I praise God that He is WITH US…amongst burning bread and dinner preparations and a little girl’s grasping of the truths about this One we celebrate this Christmas season, all during a quick play break.