Liz Curtis Higgs - The Women of Christmas: Experience the Season Afresh with Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna

Praise for
The Women of Christmas

Breathtaking! The Women of Christmas is tender and joy filled and funny and faithful. With genuine warmth, profound wisdom, and refreshing wonder, Liz Curtis Higgs offers up a perfect seasonal blendjust what every woman in the midst of Christmas needs. I savored every word.

A NN V OSKAMP , author of the New York Times bestseller One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Liz Curtis Higgs ably mines the Scriptures, revealing undiscovered treasures in the familiar story. Through the pages of this powerful little book, we get to peer into the hearts of these women and find our own hearts melting at the beauty of Gods grace.

N ANCY G UTHRIE , author of the Bible study series Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament

This season delight your friends with an early gift of The Women of Christmas, inviting them to see how Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna were part of Gods great plan to rescue us. As Liz puts it, Never doubt for a moment that women matter to the Almighty.

D EE B RESTIN , author of Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires

The Women of Christmas invites us to steal away with our Savior during the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest seasons of the year. In her warm and welcoming voice, Liz Curtis Higgs draws us into the compelling stories of the women who surrounded our Messiahs birth and encourages us to consider our own relationship with him. An inspirational and biblically rich devotional. What a wonderful way to experience Christmas!

K ELLY M INTER , author of Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break

Praise for
The Girls Still Got It

This is by far the most interesting, encouraging, and applicable book on Ruth Ive ever read. Liz is brilliantly profound as she makes the Bible come alive in a fresh, enlightening way.

L YSA T ERKEURST , New York Times best-selling author of Unglued and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries

A perfect blend of humor, extensive research, descriptive language, and insightful commentary.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Praise for
Bad Girls of the Bible

Liz takeswith humility and humorthe evangelical message and puts it in a lens that anybody can look through. A truly remarkable accomplishment.

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

Everything touched by Liz Curtis Higgs turns to humor and encouragement. A refreshing look at Bible characters we dont hear much about.

Church & Synagogue Libraries

O THER B OOKS BY L IZ C URTIS H IGGS

N ONFICTION
Bad Girls of the Bible
Really Bad Girls of the Bible
Unveiling Mary Magdalene
Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible
Rise and Shine
Embrace Grace
My Hearts in the Lowlands
The Girls Still Got It

C ONTEMPORARY F ICTION
Mixed Signals
Bookends

H ISTORICAL F ICTION
Thorn in My Heart
Fair Is the Rose
Whence Came a Prince
Grace in Thine Eyes
Here Burns My Candle
Mine Is the Night
A Wreath of Snow

C HILDREN S
The Parable of the Lily
The Sunflower Parable
The Pumpkin Patch Parable
The Pine Tree Parable
Go Away, Dark Night

T HE W OMEN OF C HRISTMAS
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide..

Copyright 2013 by Liz Curtis Higgs

Cover design by Kelly L. Howard

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, New York, a Penguin Random House Company.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Higgs, Liz Curtis.
The women of Christmas : experience the season afresh with Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna / Liz Curtis Higgs. First Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-1-60142-542-3 1. Jesus ChristNativity. 2. Christmas. 3. Mary, Blessed Virgin, Saint. 4. Elizabeth (Mother of John the Baptist), Saint. 5. Anna (Biblical prophetess) 6. Bible. Luke I-IICriticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.
BT315.3.H53 2013
232.92dc23

2013024706

v3.1_r1

To my sister-in-law,
Annie,
born on Christmas Day.

You are a gift to our family
and to everyone who knows you.
Bless you for encouraging me
in so many ways, dearie,
year after year.
I love you.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

I SAAC W ATTS , J OY TO THE W ORLD , 1719

Long before silver bells jingled, Christmas lights twinkled, and horse-drawn sleighs went dashing through the snow, God reached down from heaven with the best gift of all.

Love, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Hope, nestled in a manger.

Three women played vital roles in the Messiahs birth: Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna. Even if youve met them before, I think youll enjoy getting to know them better. And Ill love sharing the journey with you!

Their lives were markedly different. Elizabeth was married, settled, mature. Her kinswoman Mary was young, still living at home, and engaged to a carpenter. Anna was an elderly widow whose every waking hour was wholly dedicated to God. Before we reach the final page, well understand why God chose them. And whythis part boggles my mindGod has chosen us too.

Well also spend time with the men in their lives, including an old priest called Zechariah, a new husband named Joseph, and a brother of the faith known as Simeon.

Still, its the women who carry the story, teaching us by example to wait upon the Lord, to trust him with everything that matters to us, to pray until our prayers are answered. Well also hear from more than two dozen women who shared their comments through my online Bible study. Their honesty and humility bring these ancient stories right into the present, showing us what it means to surrender our lives to the One who loves us most.