Joyful Expectations

I saw a mother at mass with her newborn this morning. She had a large scarf that somehow wrapped the baby in such a way that the baby was in front of her facing forward. Sort of like a halter that’s made for babies. I thought it was pretty cool that such a long piece of cloth could be used that way. I’m not good at guessing any baby’s age but I think he could have been 5-6 months old. He had his pacifier and some type of cloth toy he played with. He was such a bright eyed cute little boy! He pointed downwards towards his baby bag and mom handed him his light-blue cloth rabbit. It wasn’t the rabbit that he seemed interested in. He was into holding his mom’s finger and bringing it to his face. She let him guide her towards his face and playfully rubbed his little nose. His little hand was holding onto his mother’s finger tightly. I thought that was so cool. It was an example of a mother’s love and a child’s dependence on the love that only a mother can give. Innocence, trust, curiosity and dependence are just few of the traits that we all had when we were babies but lost as adults. Well, the Christmas holidays are coming up and we all have joyful expectations bubbling inside of us. Whether its gifts, someone visiting or coming home or whatever, we are looking forward to joyful hopes. Now if we don’t get what we want let’s not get disappointed. Our Father in heaven knows what is best for us. We should accept our dependency on Him, just as a baby’s for their guardians. Holidays are different each year regardless of the circumstances. We get older and our priorities change. Let’s never lose the real meaning of Christmas. Christ was born to die and save mankind. When he comes again, let’s not be fearful but stand with our arms and our heads up with joyful expectations. Keep in mind we don’t have to wait for the holidays to have joyful expectations. We can do this all year round!