15When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." 16And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
“And they went with haste…”
The urgency felt by the shepherds was something Diane understood immediately when the phone rang.
“Hi, Dad. Courtney and I are at the hospital. Her dad said the baby should be born late tonight or early tomorrow morning. So, are you and Mom coming over?”
“Over” was Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, MI, about three hours away, and this phone call came around 6:00 p.m…. After a day of running errands with Diane and hanging new drapery rods. We had just decided to spend the evening relaxing at home, eating some cheese and crackers and snacky stuff for supper. Kicking back. Obviously the shepherds didn’t have a new leather recliner, 42 inch flat screen TV and bowl games.
“There’s no baby yet…? I mean, it could be a while, and we’d just be sitting there waiting. Could be all night, and…” I’m no shepherd… No Wise Man either because when I looked to the east, I didn’t see any special star. Just a radar image that showed snow all the way across the state.
“Give me that phone!” Diane obviously understood something about shepherds that I didn’t. I guess the shepherds must have been in touch with their feminine side.
Practical men don’t know how this story ends, but the rest of you all know that we did indeed make the trip. What you’re wondering is, ‘Did we make it in time?’
Yes, by the time we checked in with soon-to-be Aunt Jenny who was at work, did some packing and arranged for the cat to be fed (not my idea), we got away around 8:30 p.m. We arrived at 11:30 p.m., and Luke Charles Strohacker was born at 1:09 a.m., December 31. A tax deduction and a ‘once in a blue moon’ baby to boot. Yep, born on the second full moon of the month, a blue moon.
You can give me a little bit of credit. After all, I have been ‘making known’ what we’ve learned about this child, pictures on the Internet and all that… And, we most certainly have been ‘glorifying and praising God for all that we’ve heard and seen’ concerning this new child in our lives.
Thank you to everyone for your prayers and good wishes. Praise God for the gift of children, especially the gift of His Son, Jesus, our Savior.
(A little addendum: Courtney's dad is head of OB at Oakwood Hospital, so there was a real good chance he knew what he was talking about with his prediction.)