My name is Tara Kuhl and I've been asked to share with you a personal story about expecting. I'll preface it by saying that when I was fairly new to my faith I had a very different point of view about having a family. I always thought I wanted a big important career and wear fancy suits and live in a flashy apartment. I anticipated getting married but not having children. I didn't think it would be fair to them with all the places my busy and successful dream career would take me.

But then I met Jon, my husband of three and a half years, and he introduced me to the one true faith and over time I became immersed in the teachings of Christ and realized that I didn't care about a career or making a lot of money or being in the success spotlight at all. As my faith has matured I changed my mind about a lot of things, namely parenthood. I started to feel more and more like my main goal in life was to be a stay at home mom. This was a weird revelation for myself and not exactly something my parents or professors would have wanted to hear!

Once I became more acquainted with the Word of God, I also began to realize how corrupt and dismal the human race really is. I don't mean to sound depressing but we are in fact sinful beings and need Jesus to save us, literally, from ourselves. I began to reexamine my mission. That's right, it was no longer just a purpose but a ministry for me – I would not only make the focus of my life being a mother, but a mother of godly children, who would become tomorrow's Christian leaders. With that, I decided I better get started!

Now I am 6 months pregnant and anxiously awaiting the birth of our baby boy. I remember finding out the gender of our child and in addition to the thought, oh no, boys are harder to potty-train! I also thought oh my, how are we going to find a godly woman for our son to marry? Of course all of these things are in God's hands. Easy for me to say now. The first 3 months of my pregnancy were riddled with fear, worry, doubt and anticipation. I was so afraid that something would go wrong, the baby wouldn't develop properly or worse, I would lose the baby. I couldn't help but think that this was somehow different, that no matter how much or how hard I prayed for a happy, healthy baby, I pretty much was going to get whatever God dealt to me, tragic outcome or not. A close friend of mine who has a 6 month old of her own encouraged me to pray for wisdom, in the event that I would have a child with some kind of health problem, that I may be able to give him or her the best care possible. Now that was something that I believed whole-heartedly. In such an area, with God on my side, I could not fail.

Ever since then I have really enjoyed being pregnant and rest completely in God's care of both me and my little one. Time is really flying now, he'll be here before we know it. And I am so blessed to be able to relay to you that everything has been going wonderfully. It is also so exciting to be pregnant at Christmastime, when our thoughts turn to Mary, carrying the son of God in her womb. What she must have been feeling! It is one thing to anticipate labor, delivery of a baby and motherhood and quite another to face the task of birthing and raising not just any child, but the son of God, the Almighty, the great I AM. The very idea is just so big I cannot possibly wrap my small mind around it.

One of my favorite Christmas songs has always been Mary Did You Know?, the one that rhetorically asks Mary if she had any idea what her son would be like or achieve here on earth and its repercussions in Heaven. I'd like to play it for you now. I ask that you really listen to the words and along with me, bask in how awesome the greatest miracle on earth truly is, Jesus, son of God, son of man. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and God's brightest blessings.