I wonder if the roads we run in these weeks leading up to this night are designed by God’s great plan? Preparing for the journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph also had much to get done. In the last weeks of her pregnancy, when she should have been at home resting, surrounded by the women of her family, confirming the midwife and keeping her feet up – Mary is prepping for a donkey ride to Bethlehem. And Joseph, knowing he must take his pregnant wife to register in Bethlehem, is also preparing. Trying to finish the last of his carpentry projects for clients before they left. Still tending a bruised ego as he prepares to marry a woman who has become pregnant by someone else. Still listening to the painful jabs spoken under the breath of neighbors and clients in town.