Ask any mom with little ones: one of the worst places for a kid to cry inconsolably is church. Recently, Lily chose the prayer part of church service to throw a stunning temper tantrum. She was ripe for a nap and wanted to fight it the whole way. I took her out of service and into a stairwell, trying to calm her. Unfortunately, whole minutes passed, and I could not get her to stop. I tried it all– hushing, singing, bouncing– nothing worked.

I knew the whole congregation could hear her screaming, and I knew it was probably a huge test of Sam’s concentration to pray and preach through this epic meltdown Lily was having.

Jesus’ birth was no accident; that’s something we’ve been really driving home over the past few weeks. His arrival was foretold in the Old Testament numerous times in psalms and songs, from prophets, and from God Himself. And since everything from his lineage, to the place and circumstances of Jesus’ birth were already in scripture, we could be sure that when it actually happened, we’d have the ability to check and prove that this birth was the arrival of the Messiah God had promised us. Without this foreshadowing, we might have accepted any liar that wanted to masquerade and exploit themselves as the promise of God.

In this fast-paced life, it is so easy to get distracted, go off course, become overwhelmed by all our responsibility, and stop believing in ourselves. Lately, God has really been showing me what pure, true, and genuine belief is. I have been learning that when you truly believe in something, like God’s power in you, you are close to unstoppable. It seems like at this point in my life everyone is in a race to get the best GPA or the best job or find that perfect relationship, but God is saying a little something different to me.