swaddling...

Believe it or not....

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping,

the last 2 days I've been able to knock it out,

it's been fun to shop at midnight,

there are enough others shoppers so it's not scary to be there in the middle of the night,

but

not so many people that it's Christmas crazy and your waiting in long lines...

altho, I did have a thought through all the craziness,

we need to start a "movement" and get Christmas back to were it should be....

it's stressful and I'm sure I'm not the only parent that thinks it's stressful in trying to come up with all the extra time, and money....

not to sound like The Grinch' but it's all become too commercialized

just like every other holiday in this country.

I love simple and sweet...

speaking of,

let's end on a simple, sweet spiritual note,

my gift this morning was another

*wiseman,

and I let Lynzie open this one, she was just as touched as I have been,

Luke 2:11-12

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

(I totally got chocked up reading this one.)

I learned something about swaddling this year that I wanted to share with you;

During Biblical times after a baby was born it was washed,
rubbed with salt then oil and lastly swaddled. Swaddling was accomplished by tying strips of cloth together and then wrapping them around the baby to restrict movement. Swaddling kept the child warm, and it was thought that it also ensured that the baby would grow strong without deformity. Because of this a swaddled baby took on the metaphor of being a loved and cared for child. Thus Ezekiel says of Israel,

“And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut,

neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee: thou was not salted at all,

nor swaddled at all” (Ezekiel 16:4).

In other words, because of Israel’s wickedness they have been abandoned and not cared for.

Perhaps the reason Luke gave us this small detail about Mary swaddling her baby was to help us realize how much she loved this child and to let us know He was well cared for.

To learn more about all the symbols of Christmas

and read an amazing blog,

go here.

To all a good night!