A Moment of Insight

One baby stared at the Christmas lights that had been stung up the stairwell in amazement. Then, utterly transfixed, he reached up.

Our Christmas preparations are well underway at GLA, Yesterday, we decorated the main house, where the nurseries for children under the age of two are located.

Baby A is 11 months old and he is celebrating his first Christmas. He is seeing the tinsel, all of these pretty decorations and the lights for the first time. As I watched his astonished expression, I experienced the epiphany; Jesus, light of the world. Conceived by divine love. Pure, holy and self-sacrificing. A tiny baby, born in a stable over 2000 years ago. Such an inauspicious beginning. As I watched the little ones gazing at the twinkling lights, I thought to myself, had it not been for the star of Bethlehem, even the wise men might not have known. And we should all stand in awestruck wonder, just like A.

Vivianne and I were putting the finishing touches to the Christmas tree on the second floor, just as the babies were waking from the afternoon naps. It is a very special tree, decorated not with baubles but with baby bibs, rattles, pacifiers, and bottles! And as our little angels traipsed out to see their tree, I was aware of a strange physical sensation -like a slow moving current moving within me and all around me. A warmth.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds. Opening them again, everything seemed to be just as it had before. Crawling and toddling, wiping sleep from their eyes, our little angels came, and stood, and stared. One baby, who has just turned two and is very sick clapped his hands together and exclaimed 'Bravo!' So delighted and so sincere in his praise!

Yes, the pharmacy cupboards to my left, the cold tiled floor under my feet, babies all around me. Everything was just as it been, but I was different. All of a sudden, everything was so much more precious. There was so much more love in me than there had been a moment ago, for Jesus and for these little ones, and, so much hope for their futures.