What Child is This?

"The babe, the son of Mary"
"Holy infant so tender an mild"
"For unto us a child is born"
"Glory to the newborn King"

For the first time this year, these words have stood out to me like never before. How many times have I read Luke 2 or how many carols have I sung without really thinking about it? Like all of us, the Savior was, when he entered this mortal world, a baby. Having a new one myself, it truly never occurred to me until now how miraculous that is. As Sam and I watched the Primary children reenact the nativity on Sunday and we looked at our little baby, we thought, "can you believe that Christ himself was once as she is?!" The Son of God, the creator of the world, was once just a tiny, vulnerable infant - cold, needing to be fed every 2-3 hours and changed just as often, with no control over little flailing hands and kicking feet, unable to communicate except by crying, completely dependent on earthly guardians for His care....and He did it for us. He did it for my little Alexis and for me and for everyone who has ever had to live as a helpless baby and for the rest of our mortal experiences and pains too. And what a wonderful time of year to be and have a new baby. You might call Christmas the ultimate celebration of a new baby.

I'm tempted to make a joke about gold, frankincense, and myrrh as being the ultimate baby shower gifts, but we'll leave this on a spiritual note. Merry Christmas to you and yours!