It’s the week before Christmas, and it’s the same every year ... stress over decorations, gifts, parties, and maybe even travel to visit relatives. So many things take our minds off the real reason for the season. So, let’s take a short journey toward Christmas in a different way than usual. The birth of Jesus is, of course, the end of our Christmas journey. But before the miracle at Bethlehem, other miracles took place in the lives of three others: Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary.

Zechariah, an old priest, prays for a child. An angel appears and tells him he and his barren wife would indeed have a child. Zechariah doubts the angel, and he pays a price: he is struck dumb until the child is born…and he names him John.

Part of Zechariah’s miracle is his wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was considered a disgraced and unblessed person because she was barren and now too old to have a child. Yet she did! When asked what his name should be, Zechariah writes on a tablet, “his name is John,” and his speech returns.

And then there’s Mary: A teenage girl, pregnant by the Holy Spirit, bringing the Son of God into the world! Words cannot express such a miracle. But I will leave the description to your hearing … when you attend a Christmas worship service on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning. You’re invited to join us at 6:30 p.m. at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in LaBelle, and you will hear the rest of the story. It’s much better in person!