{"id":1706,"date":"2020-12-27T17:42:20","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T17:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2020-12-27T17:42:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T17:42:20","slug":"the-day-after-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2020\/12\/the-day-after-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"The Day After Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What happened in Bethlehem the day after Jesus was born? We are not told. But we can certainly imagine. We know the shepherds went back praising God. <\/p>\n<p>The Magi had not yet come. <\/p>\n<p>Mary, just a teenager, was trying to recover from giving birth to her newborn son, Jesus. She had no female relative to help her. Only Joseph. I am quite sure he was tender and kind. No doubt her mother gave her some instructions before they left Nazareth and some baby clothes. Surely her mother would not send her out unprepared.<\/p>\n<p>But still, this was all a bit overwhelming. How to get the baby to nurse. How to keep the baby quiet. How do I wrap the baby? What do we do about the umbilical cord? The afterbirth? Was Mary anxious? I would have been. I would want to know what my future looked like. <\/p>\n<p>But we are told Mary &#8220;pondered all these things in her heart&#8221;. She had yielded herself to God&#8217;s plan when the angel, Gabriel, told her she was going to have a baby. She did not take that yieldedness back. Each and every day, perhaps minute by minute, she had to yield to God&#8217;s plan. And would for the rest of her life. Even as she watched him brutally beaten then crucified outside of Jerusalem. She yielded to God&#8217;s plan. <\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the Innkeeper&#8217;s wife heard that a baby had been born and took pity on the young mother and came to her aid. I&#8217;d like to think so.<\/p>\n<p>This was a real birth. With real pain. Not easy for a young girl. Not at all. But God gave her the grace to do what was needed. As He does for all of us. <\/p>\n<p>When He calls us to a task, He equips us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happened in Bethlehem the day after Jesus was born? We are not told. But we can certainly imagine. We know the shepherds went back praising God. The Magi had not yet come. Mary, just a teenager, was trying to recover from giving birth to her newborn son, Jesus. She had no female relative to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,617],"class_list":["post-1706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas","tag-the-day-after-christmas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Day After Christmas - Safe Place with Ruth Graham<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2020\/12\/the-day-after-christmas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Day After Christmas - Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What happened in Bethlehem the day after Jesus was born? We are not told. But we can certainly imagine. We know the shepherds went back praising God. The Magi had not yet come. Mary, just a teenager, was trying to recover from giving birth to her newborn son, Jesus. She had no female relative to&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2020\/12\/the-day-after-christmas.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-27T17:42:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Day After Christmas - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2020\/12\/the-day-after-christmas.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Day After Christmas - Safe Place with Ruth Graham","og_description":"What happened in Bethlehem the day after Jesus was born? 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No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband\u2019s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter\u2019s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter\u2019s bulimia, her son\u2019s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40. Although born into the \"famous\" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she \"had it all together\". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin. Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows including: Good Morning, America, The Hour of Power, Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, Fox &amp; Friends, CBN, Life Today and CNN. She has worked in publishing for over 14 years and is the founder of the Ruth Graham &amp; Friends Ministry. Ruth has three grown children and nine grandchildren. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 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