(For the first "Cow Chronicle" check out my advent video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PrW03QRe26Q )
Christmas Eve when I was growing up wasn’t about Christmas presents…that happened on Christmas Morning! Christmas Eve was about anniversary presents! My mom and dad got married on Christmas Eve, and so for the McBride family Christmas Eve was all about Mom and Dad. And the big question was always: what is Dad going to surprise Mom with this year?!? And my dad rarely disappointed! He was a master at surprises. One year we asked Mom and Dad what was so important about the surprise element of their anniversary, and Dad and Mom’s eyes lit up as they shared that on their wedding night, they were surprised with an incredible gift from Mom’s family…get this…wait for it…a cow!
Mom and Dad were married in Sioux Falls, SD. A pretty big town. They were staying in an apartment. And yet, Mom’s family gifted them with a cow! For a week, my dad tied the cow up behind the apartment, but in the end, he sold it. And ever since then, Dad tries to surprise Mom on their anniversary. In honor of that first surprise: a cow!
We talk a lot in Advent about preparing for Christmas! Preparing for Christ to enter our heart! But in the end…God comes to us as a surprise! Preparing for Christmas is about preparing for a surprise, because to be honest with you, you never know when God Emmanuel (with us) will break forth!
Think about the wonderful surprises Mary and Joseph experienced that first Christmas: an angel, a baby to come, a miserable trip to Bethlehem, no room in the inn, a warm barn, a baby, shepherds, magi from the east carrying gifts, and so much more!
In a way, so much of life comes to us as a surprise!
And so, let us watch and listen this Christmas Eve, for a God who comes to us in so many surprising ways! Who knows, maybe there’s a cow, or a lamb, or a camel out there in the back yard just for you!
Merry Christmas everyone! Let’s open our hearts to the greatest surprise of all…that we are fully loved!
Your pastor, mooing my praises, Brook