When I was a little girl, I could never understand how the innkeeper had no room for Mary and Joseph. She was about to have a baby. Not just any baby. Jesus.
Fast-forward about 2,000 years and suddenly, that story doesn’t feel so far away.
In December 2007, I was discharged from a mental hospital. Not because everything was fine but because they needed the bed. The stronger patients graduated early.
Two very different moments in history. One familiar problem. No room.
I don’t often talk about what came next, but here’s the truth: discharged doesn’t mean delivered. Life didn’t magically reset. I was teaching full-time, raising two active boys, walking through a divorce, and desperately needing a place to live. I was spiritually stronger, but still climbing out of rock bottom with scraped knees and shaky faith.
So I called the woman on my right in this picture – Miss Paula. She spent an entire day driving me around, showing me house after house, fully knowing I couldn’t afford any of them and that there was absolutely nothing in it for her. The day ended with my dad meeting us at a little house off Stewart Street, where they gently told me what I couldn’t yet see: a house wasn’t possible.
It broke my heart then.
It humbles me now.
But, you never forget the people who love you when you’re broken.
Unlike the innkeeper, Miss Paula made room for me. Did she have time for a basket case at Christmas? Absolutely not. But she made the room. And it changed everything.
Today, we’re drowning in excuses. “I’m busy” might be the holiest lie we tell ourselves. But hear me: no one is ever that busy. If we don’t have room, it’s because we didn’t make room.
And that brings us to the real question for this new year: Will we make room for Jesus after the decorations are gone and the calendar turns? Not with resolutions. With rearrangement.
Be the mom you want remembered.
Be the spouse who shows up.
Be the friend who notices.
Be the neighbor who cares.
Be the coworker who leads with grace.
Be the Christian the world recognizes without needing a label.
Today’s lesson:
If you’re too busy, make room.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”
