By Jenna L. Consolo
On Christmas Day, in 1995, I was anxiously awaiting the birth of my second child, a son. I was uncomfortable and exhausted, feeling heavy with the weight of a full-term baby. I can remember my thoughts that year often turning to Mary, and how she felt physically what I was now feeling. Her baby stirred within her womb as mine now was. She too was anxious to look into her child’s face for the first time. She would see the face of God.

All expectant mothers spend time daydreaming about just whom it is they will bring into the world. What will he look like? Who will he be? What will he become? What is his mission on this earth?

What a marvelous and sacred trust Mary kept within: she knew who her child would be. I’ve often thought about the line in Luke 2, which reads, “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” I can imagine the range of feelings in the heart of the woman chosen to bear the Son of God.

I love the sweet lullaby of Mary singing, “For you are a King, but tonight you are mine.” I love the sweet image of the very young mother, basking in the afterglow of the birth of her son, spending those private moments with this babe whom she had delivered, and who would one day deliver us all.

There were signs surrounding that glorious birth two millennia ago. Samuel the Lamanite had prophesied that Christ would come into the world in five short years. As a witness, there would be no darkness for a day, a night, and a day. A new star would appear, and there would be many signs and wonders in the heavens.

Just as the heavens bore witness of the Savior’s birth, as He is “born,” if you will, into each of our hearts, our very natures should bear witness of His presence there. The signs of His presence in our lives include peace, service, gratitude, humility, charity, forgiveness, patience, compassion, submission, tolerance, and selflessness, to name a few.

“All things are created to bear record of me,” He said. That would include you and me. Our very lives should stand as a witness that He lives! That to know Him is to know peace. To love Him is to love all. To emulate Him is the greatest gift we can offer Him.

Many families decide on gifts to give the Savior each year. In our family, each member has a little white box in which is placed the slip of paper with the pledged offering written upon it.
We take a private inventory of our souls, our spiritual standing before the Lord, and prayerfully offer up a sin or a vice in sacrifice to Him, or we resolve to develop a characteristic that will make Him more visible in our countenances. We place these white boxes next to our nativity scene with humble hearts to do better, try harder, and become closer. I believe these gifts are among the most anticipated and welcomed of the year.

As Mary privately pondered in her heart the sacred events of that night, do we also privately consider the significance of the Son of God in each of our lives? As the Magi traveled from afar bearing gifts of rare and precious value, do we come humbly to His feet to offer Him the invaluable gifts of our devotion and submission of our will? As Elder Maxwell taught us, when all we have comes from above, our will is really the only thing we truly own, and can offer to Him, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Prince of Peace whose birth we commemorate at this time.

It is my testimony that not only was He born, but that He lives, and He stands as our advocate with the Father. And not only does He love us, but we are His, bought with a price, and I can only pray to be counted worthy of His great and atoning sacrifice. I love Him. I worship Him. And I seek to live my life that I might be recognized by Him, at Christmastime, and always.