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Notice the miracles in the smallest of changes.

December 20, 2021

Psalm 24, Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” Psalm 24 proclaims the majesty and wonder of God and all His creation. I most clearly see these words reflected through the eyes of my three-year-old daughter. When she joins us in prayer, she prays for everything – and I mean everything – and everyone. If she loves it, and is grateful for it, then into a prayer it goes. At first, I thought of correcting her when she would pray for dolls, or movie characters, or deceased pets she only knows from pictures. But perhaps she understands, more keenly and intuitively than I do, that there is love, joy, and wonder in every element of this Earth precisely because God created it: all of it. 

In preschool, she learns a great deal about nature, from the phases of the moon to the changing of the seasons. Because each facet of nature is still so new to her, she takes none of it for granted. Every night, she waits with eager anticipation for darkness to fall so she can discover the phase of the moon and observe the small changes from the night before. Each tiny change is, well, miraculous to her as it unveils itself. Perhaps as we wait for the glory of this season to fully unfold, we too can notice the miracles in the smallest of changes, and celebrate each in turn. 

Of course, in today’s reading we also hear of life-altering, huge, shocking changes through the news Gabriel shares with Mary. “Nothing will be impossible with God,” he tells her. After almost two years of globally-shared pain and heartache, I find myself writing this post, reflecting on all the joy in my daughter’s eyes – and I find myself expecting our second child, filled with deep satisfaction and renewed hope. Though my situation is nowhere near as grand or significant as Mary’s, it reminds me nonetheless that the message is still true: nothing is impossible with God. Hope and good news will always return. 

Katie Anderson