So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.                                                                                                                                 – Luke 2:16 (NIV)

“What if the miracle looks different than you expected?” A chaplain gently spoke these words to my family and me when my dad was critically ill in the Intensive Care Unit. None of us expected my dad’s health to decline so rapidly. We wanted my dad to live so we could have more time with him.

The chaplain’s words caused me to lift my eyes from my wish list to the miracle in front of me. My dad’s family surrounded him in his final days on earth. And I saw the greatest thing my dad had ever built—a relationship with each one of us. The love each person had for him was a miracle.

I have reflected on the chaplain’s question a lot in what became a season of loss. Two months later, my older brother and an uncle also passed away from cancer. And with each month since then, my chance to conceive another baby has slipped away.

The miracles have surprised me.

• The beauty and smile on my brother’s face after He entered heaven reflected God’s glory in an unforgettable way.
• My uncle left us all with a powerful message to remember, “Jesus is the answer to cancer.”  
• Eight years ago, God blessed me with a baby boy I conceived naturally after I was diagnosed with infertility. I thought my baby girl would come the same way. But God has been speaking tenderly to me about adoption in recent months.

Over 2,000 years ago, God’s miracle of salvation came to earth as a baby. The people who lived then expected the Messiah to look different than an ordinary child. Many thought He would be like the kings of that day or a mighty military leader. And even as Jesus grew, people missed seeing the Savior right before their eyes.

This Christmas season, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who came to give us eternal life. Things can be chaotic at this time just like they were in Bethlehem when Jesus arrived. May we not miss the miracles being performed by Emmanuel—the God who is still with us.