Go ahead, get excited

Jesus, help me celebrate Your birthday at Christmas with all the excitement that's in me! Amen! Merry Christmas!

Before Jesus was born, Mary went to visit Elizabeth, who was also going to have a baby. When Mary said hello, Elizabeth's baby jumped for joy inside her. Excited, Elizabeth shouted, "You're blessed for trusting God's promise to send you a son, Jesus!"

Kids show they're excited in lots of ways, especially at Christmas. When you're excited, you might run around, so filled with energy you can't sit still, or talk so loudly your parents tell you to calm down. It's hard to be peaceful and quiet, though, when there's so many exciting things going on!

Mary and Elizabeth must have felt like you. They were both about to have very special babies: Elizabeth was going to be the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary, of course, was Jesus' mother! Knowing that God was trusting them to have those children was so exciting -- and a little scary.

If you're excited, jumping around and yelling feels like the right thing to do. The adults around you might want you to calm down, but you don't understand that. Why not show your excitement?

Elizabeth would probably agree: When she opened the door and saw Mary, even baby John jumped for joy inside her! Elizabeth felt that Mary was going to be Jesus' mother, and she got so excited herself that she yelled how blessed Mary was.

Sometimes, it's a good idea to try and calm down when you get too excited. You don't want to make yourself sick or really bother your family when they're doing something like putting up the Christmas tree!

But it's okay to get as excited as you want about Jesus being born at Christmas. After all, people in the Bible did it first!

(12/18/03) [[In-content Ad]]