{"id":6276,"date":"2020-12-22T06:02:38","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T12:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/?p=6276"},"modified":"2020-12-28T06:32:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T12:32:23","slug":"from-the-cradle-to-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"From the cradle to the cross!"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the cradle to the cross!<\/strong><\/p>\n

When the time had arrived, on the appointed day,
\nMary gave birth to\u00a0Jesus, and laid Him on the hay.
\nNot of fine linen or silk, His swaddling clothes,
\nHad to be born in a manger as the inn was filled and closed.
\nWhat was Mary thinking as she drew Him to her breast;
\n‘How could I have been chosen to be so very blessed?’
\nJoseph stood nearby, sheltering them from the cool winter air;
\nAs he pondered the scene and observed the baby lying there.
\nHe was not His true father, that Joseph knew for sure;
\nDeeply troubled by all the ridicule they have had to endure.
\n\u2018Mary, did you know\u2019, they asked, as she placed Him on His bed;
\n\u2018Yes\u2019, she replied, \u2018all has come true, everything the Holy Angel said\u2019.
\nBethlehem, you\u2019d been chosen, did you even have a clue;
\nThat the Savior, Immanuel, God\u2019s only Son, would be born in you?
\nThe prophets had foretold, but why you, such a little town?
\nAll the shepherds are gazing as they start to gather round.
\nDrawn to this holy spot, encouraged by the heavenly host;
\nWhat was so special that angels sang, and a star seemed so close?
\nIts brightness drew distant wise men and their gift-laden caravan;
\nTo the place destined to be the first home of the Son of Man.
\nThe cattle stood lowing, along with the sheep from the hills nearby;
\nTheir heads turn toward the cradle as the baby begins to cry.
\nThere was so much to ponder by all who had gathered to see
\nWhat God had surely done; now no longer a mystery.
\nA long, hard trip lay ahead, to Egypt they would go;
\nThe first of which that would lead to Jerusalem, little did they know.
\nFrom the sanctuary of a cool, dark cave to cruel Golgotha\u2019s hill;
\nA scene quite different, but He knew it was His Father\u2019s will.
\nThere was no angelic singing-only crowds stirred into an angry mob;
\nMary and the other women, with the disciples, begin to sob.
\nShe was remembering how this had all begun, so innocent and serene;
\nNow to see Him being tortured; what could this really mean?
\nThirty-three years here with them, showing compassion and love;
\nTo die for our sins, not His, must be why He left His home above.
\nThe road from Bethlehem led to many places, all had been foretold;
\nPassed on from generation to generation, the story never gets old.
\nToday we know the full truth, which we must accept by faith;
\nGod\u2019s grace and mercy are evident, no matter what the place.
\nSee, it is for us that Mary and her family had to suffer loss;
\nBoth destined to happen; the joy at the cradle and the sorrow at the cross.
\nTo accept one without the other would be nothing less than heresy;
\nWe glory in the cross at Easter; but it is Christmas, let us rejoice in the Nativity!<\/p>\n

From the archives of poems by Bill C. Dotson<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the cradle to the cross! When the time had arrived, on the appointed day, Mary gave birth to\u00a0Jesus, and laid Him on the hay. Not of fine linen or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":6279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,112],"tags":[223,190,129],"post_template_type":[95],"pillar":[],"study_type":[],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"post_template_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template_type?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pillar?post=6276"},{"taxonomy":"study_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abidingfathers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/study_type?post=6276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}