The Inn Keeper -another Story

Seriously, I don't know what they were thinking.  The whole town was packed with people coming in for the census and most people weren't even bothering if they couldn't stay with relatives.

Then they show up practically in the middle of the night, waking us both up and scaring one of our PAYING guests half to death.  I had half a mind to shut the door in their faces but my husband, Abram, had much too soft a heart for a businessman.  As I hissed at him to shut the door against the cold, he turned and shook his head at me, sighed, and said to the strangers, "There aren't any free beds in here, but if you need shelter, there is still room in the stable."

I made a disagreeing sound in the back of my throat. (Who knows which animals would "go missing" if we let strangers in there?)  That sound usually makes him back down from whatever statement he had just made, but he hissed back, "The woman is going to have a BABY!" and left me to stew.

I threw a few pots and pans around, muttering to myself, "With my luck, she will go into labor tonight and then NONE of us will get any sleep!  And they'll have to stay for DAYS while she recovers!  And guess who will get to wait on them then??"  I had caught a glimpse of that girl's belly, and she looked ready to pop.  And her husband certainly looked old enough to know better than to take a woman that far along in a pregnancy on a trip, donkey to ride or no.  I consoled myself that since they had a donkey, they probably had enough funds to buy breakfast the next day so it wouldn't be a total loss.  Although, given their general foolishness so far, maybe they just expected some long lost relatives to show up and rescue them.

Abram came back inside a bit later.  All I did was open my mouth and he held up a hand and said in a tone I've never heard before, "Don't start.  It's done.  Thank the Lord there wasn't anyone else who needed to sleep in there tonight!"

I set my jaw as he turned to go to bed, thinking, if he thinks that's the end of this conversation, he is in for a surprise in a few hours!

Our daughter, Michaela, peeked around a corner.  She looked so young, I remember thinking, and then realizing she was probably about the age of that girl sleeping in our stable.

"Amma, should I bring them something to eat?" she asked a bit too timidly for my liking.  This is a hard world and that girl needed to toughen up, I thought.

I was about to say no when it occurred to me that if they died from starvation in our stable, it might be bad for business.  I also was not about to send my youngest daughter out to the stable where a strange man was bedding down.

"Come on," I shrugged. "Grab the leftovers."

The stars were bright as we made our way to the stable door.  I knocked to make sure everyone was decent, then bustled in, hoping my irritation at their general inconvenience to me was evident.

The man thanked us quietly for the food, his concern for his wife evident on his face.  The girl smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything.  I could tell by the look on her face she knew the baby was coming soon.  I wondered if I could by sheer mental force of will cause the baby to wait a few days until these people were no longer my problem.

As we walked back to the house, Michaela remarked, "Wasn't she beautiful?"

"I didn't notice," I stated flatly, and she fell silent.

It seemed only a few minutes later, but was actually several hours, I heard another commotion that made both Abram and I sit bolt upright in bed.  Men were shouting and laughing and it felt like the inn itself was shaking.

As Abram grabbed a stick and ran out, I followed with a heavy iron pan.

Outside the stable door were the shepherds, carrying on like they were drunk!  Laughing, slapping each other on the back, each elbowing the others out of the way to look into our stable door!  A few were even crying!  Grown men! Crying!!

Abram and I just gaped at the sight for a moment, then Abram called out, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you out in the fields?"

Okam, a normally sensible man about our age, yelled back only, "Glory to God in the highest!  The Savior has been born to us!!"

Okay, they ARE drunk, I remember thinking.  As we pushed our way to our own stable, the shepherds barely understandable in their excited gibberish, I noticed a very bright star seemingly hanging right over our heads.

Michaela had followed us out.  She tugged on my sleeve, "Amma, don't you hear?  It's beautiful!"  The look on her face scared me a bit -it seemed too other-worldly.

Finally we pressed inside.  Was every shepherd within 50 miles in our stable?

Then I saw Him.

I could not breathe.  We must have dropped our "weapons" because I found myself gripping Abram and Michaela's hand so tightly my joints hurt.

And then I could hear it.  The singing.  I cannot even call it singing because there wasn't music but it was more beautiful than the most beautiful lyre or harp.

This joy and sorrow and something unnameable washed over me, and I fell to my knees and simply whispered, "I am so sorry. I didn't know."

I did not realize I had spoken aloud, but His mother, who until that moment had never lifted her gaze from Him, looked at me gently and smiled and I felt pure peace wash through me.  All she said was, "His name is Jesus.  Would you like to hold him?"

No matter how old or forgetful I have grown in the 40 years since that night, I will never forget that moment, when Love was born, and the whole world changed.