An Imaginative Retelling of the Christmas Story
Narrated by Gabriel, Joseph and Mary, Elizabeth, and the Innkeeper’s Wife
Installments are in reverse order; the latest to be posted is first on this page. To read earlier portions of the story, scroll down and also click on “Older posts” at the bottom of the page. To read a specific section, click on its title in the column at the right. To read all sections, enter the words Christmas story in the search box at the upper left and click on Search Blog.
THE INNKEEPER’S WIFE Meets the Baby
It seems as though I had been asleep for only a few moments, when we were both awakened by noisy clatter in the street below. Someone—several people—were singing, laughing, talking loudly.
Jacob went to the window where the first streaks of dawn were just peeping through. “What on earth?“ he mumbled. “They appear to be shepherds. Looks like they’re headed out to the fields, though for the life of me I can’t figure why they’d be in town at this time of day. Oh, well, go back to sleep, Anna. I’ll heat the water for breakfast.”
“I’m getting up,” I answered. “I want to check on the couple in the hay room.”
Mary was awake, lying on her husband’s cloak, a little blanket-wrapped bundle at her breast.
“The baby?” I breathed.
Mary nodded. “A little boy.” She turned the blanket back for me to see him. Carefully I touched the fuzzy little head.
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come.”
“I know. There wasn’t time. Joseph helped me.”
I turned to the bearded man in astonishment. Midwives or other experienced mothers always attended births, or women simply brought forth their own children. “How did you know what to do?” I asked.
“I’ve helped with the birthing in the sheep pens before,” he explained. “It was only right to help this little Lamb come into the world.”
“Yes, of course,” I said, still puzzled.
“We had visitors a little while ago,” Mary said eagerly. “You just missed them. Shepherds who came to see the baby, the very first ones to welcome him!”
“Shepherds? I guess we must have heard them as they returned to their fields. But how did they know?”
“They told us the most amazing story,” Joseph explained. “An angel appearing in a blaze of glory to announce the good news of a Savior’s birth! A whole host of angels singing praise to God and pronouncing peace! A sign given so that they would know which child was the One—a swaddled baby, lying in a manger!”
“A Savior?” I protested. “But he’s so—he’s just a little baby!”
“Yes,” Mary said simply. “Isn’t it wonderful?” Clearly, she had no doubt in her mind that the story the shepherds told was exactly right. What could it all mean? I thought about it a lot as I busied myself preparing breakfast for the guests at our inn.
As the town came awake, several inns suddenly found that they had a place available for them, Mary told me. The shepherds had told everyone they met about the angels and the birth of a Savior and about finding the three of them in the cave. No respectable innkeeper could let a new baby stay in a stable, so they insisted he come inside.
“They must stay here with us,” I implored my husband. “We have the one room, you know. Remember Abraham and Sarah . . .”
“Ah, yes,” my husband said, “entertaining angels unawares. Well, have it your way. You and your soft heart . . . “
So before the end of the day, the little family moved into our vacant room. Until they could find a little house to rent reasonably, we would make them comfortable for an extended stay.
Just in case they were somebody important.
(To be continued)
MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)
Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment