Every December, just as the snow starts to pile up and the world edges closer to Christmas, the ambiance completely changes. Lights flicker on porches; candles glow in windows; kitchens fill with gingerbread and our new Christmas blend coffee (*winks*). Even the busiest among us slow down, if only for a moment, to take in the stillness and beauty of a season that feels as old as time itself.

The last days before Christmas carry a special kind of anticipation. It’s the kind that wraps itself around your heart with warmth and excitement. Whether you have big plans or smaller ones; this current waiting mirrors the universal experience of waiting for a child. It is the joyful tension between the present and the promises for the future. This is not a modern sentiment; it is woven into the very first Christmas. Beneath all the songs, traditions, and celebrations lies a deeply human story: a mother, a father, and the unborn child who would change the world.

In many ways, the Christmas story is the original pro-life story. It is the tale of a young woman who said yes to life while her future seemed uncertain, a man who chose to protect rather than abandon, and a baby whose dignity was celebrated before He ever took His first breath. And as we approach Christmas, it becomes impossible not to see the profound beauty and timeless lessons embedded in Mary’s courage, Joseph’s leadership, and the dignity of the unborn Jesus.

This is the heart of Christmas and it is the heart of the pro-life mission itself.

Mary’s Courage: A Yes That Echoes Through Generations

We often imagine Mary with the serene calm we see in paintings. She is usually draped in blue, eyes soft, face peaceful. But this image, while beautiful, falls short of fully capturing the extraordinary bravery she embodied. Mary was not a woman cushioned by comfort. She was young, living in a small village with no wealth, no status, and no earthly assurance that her future would be simple or safe.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to her, she was already aware of the risks. Becoming pregnant before living with Joseph meant social scandal at best, and at worst, danger. There was no guarantee that Joseph would believe her. No guarantee her community would welcome her. No guarantee she would have stability, protection, or support.

And yet, she said yes.

Her yes was not naive. It was courageous. It was the kind of courage women display every day when they choose life despite uncertainty. Mary’s acceptance of motherhood is not just a theological moment; it is a profoundly human one. It reminds us that the instinct to nurture and protect a child—especially an unexpected one—is deeply rooted in the feminine heart.

Every mother who sees her baby’s heartbeat on a seven-week ultrasound experiences a taste of Mary’s awe. That tiny flicker pulses with purpose and captures the miracle Mary felt as the Son of God began to grow within her.

Motherhood is never simply biological. It is emotional, spiritual, and deeply relational. And Mary shows us that embracing life, even when it disrupts our plans, opens the door to miracles.

Joseph’s Leadership: The protector, provider, and loving husband. 

If Mary is the heart of the Christmas story, Joseph is its steady hands.

Joseph’s role is often quiet in Scripture, but it is unmistakably strong. When he discovers Mary is expecting, the strangeness of the situation must have been overwhelming. It could’ve been justifiable to protect his own reputation by letting Mary face the consequences alone. But an angel appeared in a dream and Joseph also made a generous and trusting choice. 

He chooses to stand by Mary, to trust her, and in doing so, he stands with God Himself. In every action Joseph takes, from accepting her into his home to guiding her safely to Bethlehem to protecting her and the unborn Jesus from Herod’s violence, he lives out the kind of masculine strength our world desperately needs.

Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, yet he is the model for fathers everywhere who choose responsibility over convenience and protection over pride. He reminds us that fatherhood begins during pregnancy—not at birth—and that the strength of a man is most noble when used to support the vulnerable.

It is easy to forget how difficult Joseph’s journey was. He wasn’t wealthy. He wasn’t powerful. He didn’t have a comfortable home or a reliable income during those years on the move. But his leadership created the safety Mary needed to flourish as a mother and the safety Jesus needed to come into the world.

Today, we see the spirit of Joseph alive in countless fathers who choose their families, support the mothers of their children, and stand strong in their roles as protectors. And we see it reflected every day in pregnancy centers across America; places where men and women alike step in to support mothers who, like Mary, may feel overwhelmed but are capable of extraordinary courage with the right help.

The dignity of the unborn Jesus: Personhood from the beginning

Many people think the Christmas story begins in the manger, but its true beginning lies nine months earlier at the moment of conception. The early Church understood this so deeply that the Annunciation (the moment Mary conceived Christ) was celebrated long before Christmas Day.

Why? Because Jesus was Jesus and became physically present in our world from the moment Mary said yes.

He was never just  a concept, neither a possibility, nor a potential person.

He was a baby, a child, a son. He was alive and with infinite worth and purpose.

Even in the womb, the unborn Jesus was recognized and celebrated. Scripture tells us that when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, the unborn John the Baptist leaped for joy at the presence of the unborn Christ. Two children, hidden beneath their mothers’ hearts, already interacting in the deepest spiritual reality.

This moment is astonishing and profoundly pro-life. It affirms that life in the womb is active, relational, responsive, and by every aspect human. It tells us that an unborn child is not waiting to become someone, he already is someone.

Every heartbeat seen on an ultrasound echoes the miracle of that moment. Every mother who has felt the flutter of a baby’s first movements knows that life’s earliest signs are tender and sacred.

Christmas invites us to remember that the womb is not a waiting room, it is a sanctuary.

The anticipation before Christmas: Entering Mary’s experience

One of the reasons the days before Christmas feel so magical is because they mirror the anticipation Mary and Joseph felt as their child’s birth drew near. We decorate, gather, bake, travel, and prepare, just as they once prepared in their own humble way.

Think of Mary in the final days before Jesus’ birth. Exhausted from travel. Far from home. Carrying the weight of anticipation, both literal and emotional. Joseph searching for a safe place, trying to create a space of warmth and dignity for his wife and child.

Their anticipation was not glamorous, but it was holy.

Today, as we light Advent candles, prepare cribs, wrap gifts, and enjoy warm coffee in the early morning, we participate in the echo of their waiting. We feel the same excitement that parents feel before every birth; the same expectation, the same tenderness, the same hope.

There is something profoundly beautiful about knowing that Christmas is the one holiday where the entire world celebrates a pregnancy.

After Christmas: Why the joy continues

Our modern world tends to deflate after December 25th. Decorations come down, the radio stops playing carols, and stores shift to clearance sales. But in the Christian tradition, Christmas is only beginning.

For Mary and Joseph, Christmas Day was not the end of a story, it was the start of one.

The joy of welcoming a new child does not expire after twenty-four hours. Time only makes it deepen and grow. It becomes woven into the fabric of daily life: the first coos, the first smile, the first time wrapping Him in warm linens after a winter night. The birth is an opportunity to come face to face with the new baby, with our Saviour, and it is on us to continue tending, loving, and building relationship with Him from there on. 

Christmas reminds us that birth is not a singular event but the beginning of a lifetime of love.

And this is why, even after the decorations come down, there is a lingering sweetness in the air: the joy of Christ’s birth continues on, echoing through our homes, churches, and hearts.

What the Christmas Story Teaches Us Today

When we look at Mary and Joseph, we are reminded of timeless truths:

• Courage is often quiet, hidden, and feminine.
  

• Leadership is often steady, tender, and masculine.
  

• Every unborn child possesses immeasurable dignity.
  

• Every expecting mother deserves support, hope, and love.
  

• Every father has the capacity to protect, provide, and uplift.
  

And this is where the mission of Seven Weeks Coffee becomes beautifully relevant. In a world where motherhood can feel isolating, pregnancy centers stand in the gap offering the same kind of support Joseph offered Mary, the same affirmation of life that the Christmas story celebrates.

Every ultrasound showing a tiny seven-week heartbeat is a modern echo of the first Christmas: the reminder that God works through the small, the vulnerable, and the unseen.

A Christmas invitation

This Christmas season, as you sit by the tree with a warm mug, gather with loved ones, or pause in the soft light of an early winter morning, let the Nativity rest deeply in your heart.

Let it remind you that:

• Every mother carries within her a miracle
  

• Every unborn child deserves protection
  

• Every act of support can change a life
  

• And every Christmas is a celebration of a child who began His life hidden beneath His mother’s heart
  

The Christmas story is the original pro-life story because it reveals the holiness of the womb, the beauty of motherhood, and the divine importance of every human life, from the very beginning.

May we carry that joy not only through Christmas Day, but into every day that follows. For the miracle of Christ’s birth did not end in a manger. It continues through each life we honor, each mother we support, and each child whose heartbeat reminds us that hope is still alive.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" - Matthew 25:40