My friend Jenny is a new mom! I met her four-week-old son last week. This is her third child and first boy. The father wants nothing to do with being a parent and Jenny is nervous about raising a son alone. Standing outside, talking over two hot togo boxes of chicken and biscuits from the Community Dinner, Jenny tells me that she is shifting her attention to her health and the care of her son. “The time spent worrying about what the dad should be doing is time spent away from all the good that is in front of me.” We talk about being in the present and taking care of ourselves. Jenny fainted in her apartment a few weeks after giving birth, went to the hospital, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Her mom was watching her newborn but had to go to work. Jenny had to leave the hospital early to be with her son and was discharged against medical advice. We talk about feelings of depression and anxiety that can sometime happen after giving birth and if she wants to talk with any medical professionals. I gently offer the doctor and nurse that volunteer with me as possible options. Jenny respectfully declines and walks off to her apartment thanking me for the meals and for talking. As jenny walks off, I think of the miraculous donated stroller that she is using. The stroller appeared last week and felt less like a donation and more like an angelic pronouncement. I think of the Christmas story, the manger, and the radical message of hope and love that is birthed through a young homeless woman. Merry Christmas!

“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors (Luke 2:8-14 NRSV)!”

Michael Cox