Spread the News!

"As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over.
"Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us."
They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child.
All who heard the sheepherders were impressed." Luke 2:17-18 the Message

On November 27, 2002, I gave birth to my third child, Jackson Benjamin Brady. We didn't find out the sex of the baby before hand so we were all excited to see if we would add one to the boy side or the girl side because we already had one of each. We were so blessed to have a whole waiting room full of friends and family waiting on this news at the hospital. So when Jack was born, our two kids, Tucker(4) and Claire(2), came back into the delivery room to see the new baby. Once we looked him over and they saw every inch of his little body, they got the honor of going into the waiting room to announce the birth of their new baby brother. Usually this announcement would come from Bruce, my husband, but not this time. We wanted to include them in a very special role on this happy occasion for our family. The picture is forever etched in my mind (this is before iPhoto and cataloging pictures on your computer!), Tucker and Claire all smiles and so excited and Bruce standing behind them with nothing but a smile on his face as he watches them spread the news.

Rewind a few thousand years to the birth of Jesus. I'm not saying that my son's birth is anywhere near the same category as that of Mary's so please don't let your mind think that. What I do want to link is the spreading of the news.

The shepherds were the ones that the angel first appeared to and sent them to see the baby that had been born. No one else but Mary and Joseph had laid eyes on this baby. They were the first. These shepherds were not the kind of men you would want coming to visit you. First of all, they were considered to be very lowly people. They were the people that would never be allowed in the temple because they could never be clean enough (reminds me of my kids at times....).

They did however, have an interesting job considering their lowly status. They were in charge of keeping a special flock of sheep that were most likely used for the Temple offerings. These sheep were considered to be perfect offerings and were the private flocks of the Temple authorities. But yet these shepherds were considered to be lowly.....go figure.

But here's the real similarity between my kids and the shepherds: pure joy and excitement! I just have to believe that the excitement and smiles that were on my kids' faces when they announced the birth of their new baby brother had to be just a fraction of the excitement that these shepherds had when they went and told of the birth of Jesus. And Bruce's smile just a fraction of the one on God's face as he watched in excitement as the birth of His son was announced to the world! It's not everyday that these shepherds had the opportunity to announce such an incredible event. This was it for them, this was their time to shine and to have people take them seriously. They must have done an amazing job spreading the news because Luke 2:17,18 says "they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."