The Christmas QuestSample

Day 3 – Don’t Despise the Small Things
Luke 1:26-38

Nazareth is ordinary. Think small routines, familiar streets, the steady rhythm of work and meals and sleep. That is where the announcement arrives. Christmas begins in a room that looks more like yours than a stage, more like a Tuesday than a festival. The story does not need prestige. It needs a person who is present. God comes close in the unremarkable places we have learned to overlook.

Mary’s first reaction is honest. She is troubled. She questions. She listens. Faith here is not a performance. It is the slow courage to stay in the moment long enough to hear what God is actually saying. There is no shortcut around confusion. There is a relationship that can hold it. Grace does not cancel agency. It invites a response. The promise God gives will take shape in her real life, with all its limits and textures.

Most of us begin where Mary begins.

How can this be with my schedule and my fatigue?
How can this be with these family tensions that do not resolve on command?
How can this be with the news cycle heavy and my attention scattered?

The answer is not a clever plan. It is presence. The Spirit who hovered over creation hovers over the ordinary details of your day. You may not receive a blueprint. You can receive God.

There is a quiet way that the Spirit works. Think of winter light moving across a room. You notice it only if you pause long enough to look. The work is not loud. It is patient. The Spirit plants life beneath the surface, asking only for a posture of consent. Not grand gestures. Not dramatic speeches. A steady yes that you can pray with your body. The life of Christ grows in people who keep making room for it.

Mary is not left to carry this alone. Elizabeth is waiting. God meets isolation with companionship. In a season that can expose loneliness, this matters. Community is not a luxury for extroverts. It is part of how God cares for us. You may need one person who can hold your story without rushing it. You may be that person for someone else. A text. A walk. A simple meal. Shared presence becomes shared courage.

Mary rises and goes. Good news becomes motion. Discipleship is usually one next step, not a hundred. You forgive once more. You make the call. You shut your laptop on time so you can rest. You return to prayer after a distracted week. None of this is spectacular. All of it is holy. The kingdom enters the world the way a seed enters soil, small and hidden, yet full of a future.

Christmas begins with God drawing near, not with us getting everything right. It meets us in familiar rooms and asks for a grounded yes. Let your celebration start there. Not with pressure to feel a certain way, but with attention. Not with noise, but with a clear, humble openness. God knows the address of your life. He comes to it. And where he comes, new life quietly begins.

Family Devo - Nothing is Impossible with God

Have you ever had to do something that was scary like changing schools or talking to someone new. Maybe you’ve had to do something hard like let your brother or sister have the last ice cream that you REALLY wanted or clean up all the toys in the playroom like your parents asked. Today, we get to learn about someone who had to do something that was probably scary and hard, but super important.

One day, an angel appeared to a woman named Mary and told her the Lord was with her. That’s pretty cool! The angel then told her that she was going to have a baby, but not just any baby. She was going to have baby Jesus! The promised king, the Son of God, the holy one! WOW. That’s a pretty big deal. If I was Mary, I might have been a little nervous or scared to do something so big. But the angel reminded her that NOTHING is impossible with God. That’s amazing! When God is with us, nothing is impossible when we follow His word.

Family Question 💬
What is something you’ve had to do that was really hard or scary? Did you ask God to help you with that thing?

Apply it 🎯
When you are asked to do a hard or scary task, stop and remember that God is with you. Ask Him to help you complete the things that are hard or scary!