(This fictional Advent story began on post Nov 28, 2016.)
A man answered the door saying, "I'm sorry I do not have any room available. I have relatives traveling as well and they just arrived this morning. Try the house at the end of the hill. I don't know if you will have any luck, she just had a baby two weeks back."
Joseph thanked the man and he and Mary continued down the hill. As Joseph and Mary approached the house a young man suddenly appeared. Joseph smiled, "Excuse me, my wife and I have been traveling all day, and we are in need of a place to stay for the night. Could you kindly allow us a small space?"
The man shook his head back and forth and was about to say "no" when he noticed Mary's condition. "She's not in labor is she?"
"No." Joseph replied. "She is just worn from the trip."
"That's good, because one crying baby is more than we can handle right now. My wife delivered over two weeks ago. She had some problems and the baby doesn't feed well. The baby cries nonstop. You can stay here if you want, but I doubt you will get any rest."
Joseph looked at Mary and Mary said, "Joseph, I really could use a rest from traveling." Then she looked at the man and said, "Sir if you would allow me, I would like to assist your wife in any way that I can."
The man nodded and lead Joseph and Mary inside his home. As soon as the door was opened the sound of a baby crying echoed all around them. "Ruth, we are going to have two visitors staying the night.". A woman a few years older than Mary appeared with a crying baby and a toddler wrapped around her leg. She had dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't slept in days. The woman said something to her husband, but the cries of the baby got louder and drowned out her meek voice.
Mary took a few steps forward towards Ruth. "Would you allow me the honor of holding your beautiful child?"
Ruth looked at her husband. "Go ahead and let her. It's not as if the child can cry any more than it already is." Reluctantly, Ruth placed the child in Mary's arms.
Mary saw a chair and sat down allowing the baby to partially rest on her pregnant abdomen and whispered something in the baby's ear. As soon as the baby touched her body, the child stopped crying. Mary softly hummed a familiar psalm, and the baby lovingly looked at Mary.
Ruth sat down next to Mary and said, "How did you get her to stop crying?"
Mary smiled and said, "I asked her if she wanted to join me in praising the Lord."
"I have been so exhausted, and I have tried everything. I never would of thought to ask her to pray with me. She's too young to even know what prayer is."
Mary smiled and said, "When our words are not adequate, God, himself, will supply the words. It is an awesome privilege to teach a child to love the Lord." Mary continued to sing her psalm and meditate in prayer as the baby peacefully drifted off to sleep. When Mary finished praying, she looked at Ruth and saw that both her eyes and her toddler's were closed as well, so she continued to softly sing.
Ruth's husband had stepped outside with Joseph to attend to the donkey. When he came back inside and saw his family sleeping, he was pleasantly surprised. He looked at Joseph and said, "Your wife has brought peace to my whole family. How is this possible?"
Joseph recognized the psalm Mary was singing and the love in her eyes. He looked at the man and said, "She is praying. She has asked God to bless your family. It has been my experience, that I feel closer to God when I join my prayers with Mary." Joseph looked at the man and then the future's horizon and said, "I would encourage you to pray with her well."
(to be continued...)
