As I have previously mentioned, one Christmas tradition is matching sleep ware for the grand kids. After Christmas dinner and gift opening the grandcrew don their new sleep attire and spend the rest of the evening playing games. The girls are Star Wars fans while the grandson prefers the Arkansas Razorbacks. You may see one or two more outfits before the marathon comes to a close.

While the birth of Christ focuses on the virgin Mary, one cannot discount the man chosen to be the earthly father of the Savior. Matthew tells us that Joseph is a direct descendant of king David and his linage goes all the way back to Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel. The selection of Joseph is the fulfillment of prophecy. The apostle author also tells us that Joseph was righteous man. An angel did not visit Joseph to tell him that Mary was going to give birth to the Messiah, in fact we are not told exactly how the news was made known to Joseph. What we are told is that Joseph was considering calling the marriage off but he did not want to publicly embarrass Mary. It was at this point that an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and informed Him of the circumstances regarding Mary’s condition. The angel explained the situation to Joseph and told the carpenter that he should have no fear or concerns about taking Mary as his wife and Joseph complied. What we see from Mary and Joseph is obedience to the will of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Either one or both of these people could have said, “No” to the Lord and missed the single greatest blessing in the history of man, but they chose to set aside their own thoughts and desires to obey the Creator of the universe. Have a blessed day.