On pondering what to write for this column, the thought occurred to me that Jesus was an only Child for Mary & Joseph (at least for a little while, per Matthew 1:25), and definitely an Only Child to His true Father.

For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.     John 3:16 (NIV)

What a sacrifice, and yet He saw the big picture and saw each of us, individually as if we were the only one, and was willing to give His Son, and the Son was more than willing to be given. What a gift. And all we have to do is accept Him into our hearts.

How precious are all our children.... but when you only have one, oh, how much more precious they seem, especially if you've dealt with fertility issues, or have had miscarriages, or have had to go through grief of any kind, including the obstacle course of trying to adopt. Their presence in our lives is appreciated every day. (Well, there are some days that we might wish they had a sibling to go play with in another room, but every parent has those days at one time or another.)

I remember the week right after our second son's home-going to Heaven. It was very hard not to hold tightly to my firstborn. I could not imagine losing him also. In fact, I had a hard time with any emergency-type things. The Saturday after we buried Richard, we were at our church's "spring fling" (games, pony rides, etc.), when a friend's son fell and had to go to the hospital to get some stitches.... I was beside myself until they got back to report that all was well. Life for both my son and for those around me was extremely precious, to be held tightly, to be protected. In the bigger picture of life, if we hold a child so tightly, they are apt to sense the importance they hold over us, and that can be a contributing factor for them becoming spoiled.

We all can appreciate the loss of a child, even if we’ve never lived it. But can we grasp the preciousness of Father God’s Gift to us? Jesus said if one had seen Him, they had seen the Father. God came down, and lived with us. The magnitude of this Gift easily escapes us. Father God chose to give the gift of His Son. In an extremely small, yet similar way, we have to choose to give our child back. They have been given to us as a type of loan, to raise, nurture, and point them to the Way. We are only stewards, as Mary and Joseph were. We all know, or need to realize that there is only so much we as parents can do--the rest is up to them, for they have choices. I wonder how the Father felt watching the temptation in the wilderness, or as Jesus prayed in the garden for the cup to be passed over him, yet not His will but the Father's be done. I'm sure it was the same as when He spoke over Him with, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased."

May this Christmas bring you and yours the same warmth and joy that is found when the Gift of Jesus is accepted and opened within the heart.