When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him

Matthew 1:24

I was a brand new mum, my son was about a week old and I was sleep deprived, brain addled and body frazzled.  It was 2am and my little one wasn’t settling.  My husband scooped him up and spent the next few hours pacing up and down quietly singing to soothe our baby and allow me to rest.

The story of Joseph is one of gentle care and concern.  He so wanted to do the right thing, even if it took a nudge from God to show him what the right thing was.  We don’t know what Joseph thought about what he was being asked to do as we don’t have any of his words recorded in scripture, just his actions.  We have his faithful response and his getting on with the task at hand.  The task of loving and protecting and raising God’s precious son.

This Christmas is likely to be challenging with more muted celebrations.  Usually we think of ourselves as joining the heavenly host of angels singing ‘Glory to God in the highest’ but perhaps this year we should think of ourselves as pacing the floor with Joseph in the middle of the night, as he settles baby Jesus on his shoulder.