All About Jesus

Working as a nurse for 34 years, I have seen just about everything. Weird stuff. Sad stuff. Joy. Blood. Death. Teamwork. Miracles. I vividly remember certain patients and their families, even though our paths may have only crossed for a matter of hours. Gracie is one of those memories.

I was bummed to be working on Christmas Day, but that’s all part of being in the healthcare profession. I entered my postpartum patient’s room to find a little girl with beautifully wild, curly hair sitting on the sofa, holding her new baby brother. Her big brown eyes looked at the baby, then her mother. She was sobbing. “No, Mommy! No! That’s not right!”

“Not too happy with her baby brother?” I questioned her mom.

“Oh, she loves the baby, mom responded. It’s his name she isn’t happy with. She is insistent upon naming him something else.”

Curious, I asked, “What does she want to name him?”

“Baby Jesus,” the mom replied with an exasperated laugh. She explained, “This Christmas we have been showing Gracie the baby Jesus in the nativity scene, and she is all about that baby Jesus!  All she will talk about is the baby Jesus. She plays with the manger scene at home and tells everyone that baby Jesus is coming at Christmas. Now Gracie expects our baby to be named Baby Jesus because he came at Christmas.  “Help!” she laughed. “I think we have confused her!”

I sat next to Gracie and asked her if she would like to use my stethoscope to hear her baby brother’s heartbeat. I managed to get a smile out of her as she listened with wonder to his heartbeat and then her own. When I left the room, nothing more was said about the baby’s name. To be honest, I don’t even remember what the baby’s name really was. But I remember Gracie.

Gracie was all about that baby Jesus. I felt God speaking to me through that strong-willed, intelligent child. I need to be more like Gracie! Oh, how I want it to be all about Jesus as I celebrate His birth! I began to think about the holiday hustle and bustle and my own rushing around to get everything done. Did everything really need to be just right? Our Savior definitely didn’t come into a world that was just right. His birth in a stable reminds me that Christmas is not about elaborate preparations. The only preparation He asks for is the one in my heart. The redemption of my soul is so much like the miracle of birth! What a miracle to look at new life with eyes of wonder! Lord, may I always look at the new life you created in my soul with eyes of wonder! Like Gracie, this Christmas I want it to be all about Jesus.