Nathanael's First Christmas

Nathanael has been busy making new acquaintances over Christmas - Michael's girlfriend Carey, a family friend of Alyssa's, her aunt, uncle, cousins and second cousins, and Chris' best friend, his wife and their newborn daughter. Nathanael seems to enjoy interacting with everyone and almost always entertains with smiles, "talking", and of course his favorite - bouncing!

Nathanael also had a surprise visit from Yinka, a friend of ours from Nigeria who is studying here in the U.S. He drove in from Virginia and made a special stop to meet Nathanael. As Yinka took him in his arms he said, "We have been waiting a very long time to meet you, we are so glad you are finally here." Over the course of the evening Yinka continued to speak words of blessing to Nathanael, talking to him about Jesus and singing Nigerian praise songs with him. What a joy as a mother to watch someone else greet you baby with such excitement.


With Christmas approaching I couldn't help but think of Mary and Joseph taking baby Jesus to the temple for dedication. What a joy it must have been as Simeon greeted them with his excitement and joy that the Messiah had finally arrived. In the midst of the chaos and unlikely events of the past nine months, someone else recognized God's hand at work. You can almost hear Simeon say, "We have been waiting a very long time to meet you, we are so glad you are finally here."

(click the slideshow to view the full album)