DECEMBER 16 CHRISTMAS IN THE STABLE By Joni Eareckson Tada Founder and CEO, Joni & Friends
Today’s Passage: Luke 2:6–7
It was Christmas in the 1950s, and I was nine years old, leaning on the windowsill of our Maryland farmhouse and half-listening to my sisters in the kitchen. They were preparing dinner, but I was staring at the snow falling outside. A soft haze made our barn almost disappear. I pulled on my jacket, stuffed a few carrots in my pockets, and hiked to the stable. I felt sorry for the horses in the barn. Our family would be opening presents that evening, and I did not want the animals to feel left out. The stable was quiet. I inhaled the scent of hay and horses. They nickered when they heard my footsteps – it was a gentle, welcoming feeling that warmed me to the heart. The only sounds were the crunching of carrots and the quiet of my own breathing. The beauty of solitude was markedly different from the bustling cheer inside the farmhouse, and so I sensed that God spoke to me more clearly in the solitude: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” Perhaps when you lean on your windowsill, you see the backyard of your next-door neighbor. Or you might live in an apartment, a mobile home, or in a nursing home. Few of us live near a stable. But you can still find a place to be apart – somewhere quiet, even the solitude of an upstairs bedroom.
Wherever it is, make time to be alone today – with Jesus. Thank Him for coming to earth to rescue…you.
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