Christian Artist Faith Hill has a Christmas song entitled “A Baby Changes Everything.” Having been a mother at 17 on my own, I know firsthand. A baby changes everything … forever.
I wonder what would Mary have gone through if Jesus were born today. Would people tell her to have an abortion? Or would she have been the star of a reality show? Would she have gone to school pregnant as I did? Would Joseph still marry her? Did she have a plan before she got pregnant that she had to change?
Having a child outside of wedlock is a very scary thing. To have one at such a young age, as I did also, is terrifying. I can imagine how Mary felt when she was told she would have a baby. How did she tell her parents? Did her family support her? Did she dare go out in public when she was showing? And when the baby came, did she fear she wouldn’t be able to handle raising a child so small. Was she afraid to pick him up for fear she would break him?
Or did she watch her stomach as the baby grew inside her and smile as the little hands and feet pushed out? Did she imagine what he would look like or see herself playing with the little one. And when she held the tiny body in her arms, did she gaze lovingly at the small face as he nursed?
A baby changes everything. It did for me and it did for my daughter who also had a son on Christmas Day by herself, after giving up her first baby because she loved her so much she wanted to give her the best life she could.
Having a baby changed my life forever. I didn’t get to go to art school like I planned. I didn’t have the career I saw for myself. But I have a beautiful daughter who has three children of her own and one she will not see but always love. A baby changed our lives forever.
Just as Mary’s baby changed her life and Joseph’s forever. But it wasn’t only their lives that were changed. This baby would change the entire world for all time. This baby would change everyone’s lives.
It all started with one frightened and pregnant teenage girl…
Merry Christmas everyone. We’ll resume our interviews after the first of the year.
Michael and Lauretta Kehoe