There are things that just change the way you live…
Moving, new jobs, getting married…
These are change a lot of things, but kids… seem to have the power beyond them all.

I’d always wanted to be a dad, but 12 months about I had no idea what it would actually mean.
Sure I expected the snotty noses, sleepless nights, and (my personal favorite) sniffing a little kid’s butt to see if he’s pooped his pants.
But, I had no idea the joy I’d experience.  As a self-professed grinch at the holidays… the joy I’ve experienced this season because of this boy, has floored me.

My mother-in-law told me about a story that she read yesterday from the perspective of Joseph, Jesus’ earthy father.  In it, she said that he was stressing about all of the implications it meant for him to take a pregnant Mary as his wife.  And, in the moment when the Shepherds came running in to the stable saying, “This angel just told us about a baby that would be laying in a manger and HE’s the son of GOD!” Joseph let out a HUGE sigh of relief because others now knew this “secret” that he had been carrying.

But, it surely didn’t stop there for him.  We don’t know much more about how Joseph handled himself through this.  We know that he worked.  We know that he raised Jesus well.  Obviously, GOD trusted him… which speaks volumes about what there is to know about Jesus.

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I’d love to ask Joseph some questions:
Did Jesus’ poop stink?
Did HE ever throw temper tantrums?
Did Jesus talk back?  Did you spank HIM?  Did HE ever need to be paddled?
Did HE ever ask, “Why?”

More than anything I’d love to hear his story.  Adoptive dad to adoptive dad.  1 on 1.  So many of our stories are similar.  And, when we realize that we connect over them, we grow together.

I think there’s a special love that we experience as adoptive parents that biological/birth parents can’t truly get.  It’s hard to explain.
It’s a connection to our Creator who adopts us back into HIS family through Jesus… there’s a rescue there… there’s just a difference.

I think that’s why GOD had Jesus’ earthy father be an adoptive dad and a step-dad.  It helps us… er, me… see the beauty that can come from the mess of a blended family.  Normal families are great, but “different” families are great, too!  It’s a very inclusive point, HE’s making here!

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So, as Angie, Isaac, and I sat down this week to celebrate Christmas in MANY ways, we started with where it all began.
We read of Jesus’s birth and adoption.
We paused and remembered that GOD’s plan is greater… as cliche as it is.
We experienced the joy of a child.
Together.
A family.

Merry Christmas!

+PJ, ANGIE & ISAAC