Matthew 1:24

Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife…

Joseph walks straight to Mary’s home, stopping here and there to consider all he’d learned–all he had thought!

What a fool he’d been.

After the angel left him, Joseph couldn’t sleep. He prayed to God on High, fell on his face in tears, thought about the prophets, the Savior.

“God please forgive me!” He cried.

He felt the calm of the Holy Spirit fall over him–the same Spirit that came over Mary those many weeks ago.

“Please, Father, help Mary to forgive me too, and love me as you do.” He prayed before pulling the door closed behind him. He disappears into the early morning as lighted blue creeps across the sky.

The walk flies by as he pictures Mary’s face.

The last time he saw her, he left her feeling uncertain, he knew. It was his fault, though the memory fills him with regret now, propelling his feet onward.

“Mary!” He calls to her from the yard.

“Mary!” He calls from the doorway.

“Mary!” He passes through the house to the small yard behind, scanning to find her.

“Joseph?”

She appears, standing between her parents–as if knowing already why he comes.

“It is time?” Her father asks, more a statement than a question.

Joseph’s smile is answer enough, and Mary’s mother whisks her away to a room within the house, praises to God Almighty on her breath.

When the women emerge again, Mary’s hair has been smoothed, color pinched into her cheeks. She beams at her betrothed and his heart races in anticipation as she steps closer to him. He wonders to himself what it will be like to raise children with her–to raise up a Savior with her.

Mary comes to a stop before Joseph, and he reaches a hand to her belly in the softest touch.

“It is time indeed.”

* If you’re just joining us for this holiday story, and want to start from the very beginning, you can find DAY 1 HERE.