this christmas.

Christmas looks a little different this year than any other year. Not only am I celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah who has redeemed + freed me, but I have also celebrated a new kind of advent season. My name may not be Mary and our stories may not identical, but I, too, am awaiting a baby boy that will soon call me Mom + will look to me for guidance, wisdom, grace, love, and so much more. My journey as a mother is just beginning, and it is my prayer that I would always seek to know the Father more + lead our son and, Lord willing, all of our future children down paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

My view + understanding of Christmas grows deeper + more profound each year, and this particular year has been one full of new perspectives, countless tears + smiles of joy, embracing every single moment, and praying + praising my Savior more than I ever have before. I want our son to know that his daddy + mommy love him more than anything else in the whole, wide world, but I want him to know that he is loved by the One who created him exponentially more. There is no sweeter sound than that of amazing grace being sung over me each day, and I can't wait until our precious Braxton Michael hears it, too.

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your hours, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

-Deuteronomy 6:4-7