FOR me, the word “Christmas” brings to mind “extraordinary”.

Angels - telling Mary that she is going to have a baby who will be God-with-us, reassuring Joseph that this was true and then terrifying hardy shepherds.

A star - attracting men from miles away, causing lives to be put on hold for a two-year journey. Then comes Jesus’ extraordinary life.

But does this extraordinary story have any link to our “ordinary” lives? 

A newborn baby, a family with nowhere to stay, fleeing refugees, growing up, learning a trade, making friends; these are ordinary things.

But God choosing to come and live as one of us, living an “ordinary” life, and then giving His life for us. Extraordinary!

For me, the wonder of Christmas is that this extraordinary God enters into the ordinary, then and now.

God doesn’t barge in. As for the innkeeper, finding room for Him is still up to us.

A space found because of compassion for a pregnant woman but then, as shepherds arrived, a realisation that this child was special. 

Our journey of faith can start as a tentative invitation into a small space in our heart followed by a dawning awareness that this Jesus makes all the difference.

I hope that we all experience the extraordinary wonder of this Christmas time.

Caroline Smith