What if…..Joseph (as in Joseph and Mary) decided not to take Mary as his wife? What if he decided that his reputation and standing in his community was more important than listening to an angel? An angel for heaven’s sake! What if he let them (the bad guys) humiliate Mary and stone her because she was pregnant without the benefit of a husband? What if he wasn’t a man of integrity and decided he just wanted a nice business in a nice town with a nice wife who wasn’t pregnant already?

BUT HE WAS

What if…..Mary said “pick some other teenager - not me”? What if Mary said “I am not your willing servant”? I don’t really want to be the mother of the Messiah - I want to be Joseph’s wife - the wife of a carpenter - in our nice little town - I don’t want to be gossiped about - I don’t want to be made fun of - I don’t want my parents to think I slept around. What if Mary decided to have an abortion?

BUT SHE DIDN’T

What if…..the Magi decided not to heed their dreams and went back to the evil King Herod - and told him about finding the child - Jesus? What if they had believed King Herod - that he too, wanted to worship this Christ child? The Magi had nothing to lose. They were simply following a star. What if those wisemen had not returned to their own country by another route?

BUT THEY DID

What if…..children understood that the world is out to steal their souls? What if boys and girls understood that honesty and kindness and gratefulness and sharing and all those good things we need to function well as adults - don’t come naturally? What if they understood that their parents and grandparents and caregivers work diligently to install these characteristics in their young charges?

What things?

Don’t lie!

Don’t cheat!

Don’t sass!

Obey quickly!

Speak kindly!

Share!

What if kids understood that it’s out of love that their parents monitor what they watch on the television - on their tablets - on their computers - on their screens! What if they knew how exhausting it is to parent - 24 hours a day - 7 days a week - 4 weeks a month - 12 months a year! Day after day.

BUT THEY DON’T AND PARENTS KEEP ON - KEEPING ON

What if….. husbands and wives throw in the towel (so to speak) when things get tough? What if - one spouse wants something and the other doesn’t and a compromise must be made- but no one gives in? What if - neither one - says “I’m sorry” when harsh words have been spoken?

One of the coolest parts of having my mom live with us is her memories of my dad and their marriage of 69 years. She now calls him “Stan, the man!” Oh yes, I heard some of their arguments when I was a teenager but those are long forgotten in my mom’s memory bank. She speaks of my dad with awe and love and reverence. What a good and faithful husband and father he was. What a respected worker at the mill for 42 years he was. How thankful I am for my parent’s good example to me about marriage and working through the hard parts of it to produce good memories.

What if - husbands and wives - remember their vows “till death parts us”?

WE MUST

What if…..brothers and sisters didn’t get along?

I can’t imagine not having my siblings sharing the journey of caring for our mom these days. I can’t imagine not receiving their texts, their messages, their emails, their phone calls of love and encouragement. My siblings and their spouses are one of God’s greatest gifts to me. I don’t even think of my in-laws as in-laws! We are all blue bloods! (Inside family joke). We’re certainly opinionated! We’re strong! We may even disagree on certain things but at the end of the day - we would take a bullet for each other. In these crazy days - we need our siblings to have our backs.

THEY DO

What if…..athletes stopped training when it got boring or tiring or too much of an effort I don’t pretend to be a world class athlete but I’ve participated in enough running races (5 kms - half marathons) that I know you can’t just show up the day of the race and expect to do well., The training has to start months before the race. Winter, spring, summer, autumn. Get out there and pound the pavement. Get those speed workouts in. Got those long distances in. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or snowing - get out there. What if we decided to set a goal in 2021 to do something active? What if we wrote it down? What if we sign up for a class? What if we try something new?

WE SHOULD

What if…..in 2021…..we would be intentional about loving our family and friends?

That…..

We would sincerely love.

We would hate what is evil.

We would cling to what is good.

We would be devoted to one another in love.

We would honour one another above ourselves.

We would never be lacking in zeal but would serve God and each other.

We would be joyful in hope. We would be patient in affliction. We would be faithful in prayer.

We would share with each other. We would practice hospitality (as soon as this Lockdown is over).

We would forgive those who hurt us.

We would rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

We would not be conceited.

We would not repay evil for evil.

We would live at peace with our neighbours and friends and family.

We would not take revenge when we are taken advantage of.

We would overcome evil with good.

WE WILL

2021 is going to be epic - my friends.