Pastor Tom Grieb continues our series Christmas Outside the Box.

Doing Christmas outside the box might not be the easiest thing to do.  For good and for bad, we are tradition-bound when it comes to Christmas.  We are really stretched when challenged to do things differently.  That is particularly true when it comes to family.  This may be the very year though when we make an intentional effort to connect with family in ways we never have before.  That very well may mean taking the first step to that end.

We are called to family at Christmas.  We come by that honestly.  Much of the Christmas story revolves around family.  Mary and Joseph are center stage when it comes to family.  The relationship that Mary and Elizabeth had is also in the mix.  We know from Luke 1:39-45 that Mary visited her relative, Elizabeth who was also pregnant.  I am of the mind that Mary and Elizabeth needed one another.

Mary, upon hearing that Elizabeth was pregnant, wanted to find out what was going on with Elizabeth so she could better understand what was going on in her own life.  Without a doubt, Mary benefited from Elizabeth’s encouragement.