Brad Wilcox - Because of the Messiah in a Manger

2018 Bradley Ray Wilcox and Deborah G. Gunnel Wilcox Family Trust

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, at permissions@deseretbook.com or PO Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wilcox, Brad, author.

Title: Because of the Messiah in a manger / Brad Wilcox.

Description: Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018018738 | ISBN 9781629724652 (paperbound)

Subjects: LCSH: Christmas. | Jesus ChristNativity. | Jesus ChristMormon interpretations. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. | Mormon ChurchDoctrines.

Classification: LCC BX8643.J4 W55 2018 | DDC 263/.915dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018018738

Printed in the United States of America

Lake Book Manufacturing, Inc., Melrose Park, IL

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Book design Deseret Book Company

Art direction by Richard Erickson

Design by Shauna Gibby

Cover nativity illustration Adyna/Getty Images

When I speak to young children about the writing process, I remind them that writing is like playing basketballit takes lots of shots and an entire team to win the game! I gratefully acknowledge the wonderful players on my team. Thanks to my wife, Debi, and my daughters, Wendee Rosborough and Whitney Laycock. I appreciate their careful editing and unfailing support and love. Thanks to all my family for experiencing with me so many of the stories I share in this book. You bring me joy at Christmas and all year.

Special thanks to Elder Craig A. Cardon, Jake Busby, Brett Sanders, Vicky Davenport, Jeanne Thompson, and Larry Laycock for allowing me to share insights I gleaned from them and to Janice Kapp Perry for generously granting permission for me to share a Christmas song she and my mother, Val C. Wilcox, wrote together.

I appreciate Lisa Roper at Deseret Book for sharing the idea for this Christmas book in the first place and for sticking with me from beginning to end. I also appreciate Sheri Dew, Laurel Christensen Day, Shauna Gibby, Tracy Keck, Malina Grigg, and Michelle Lippold at Deseret Book as well as Chrislyn Woolston, Tennisa Nordfelt, Laura Korth, and the rest of the Time Out for Women team. Dave Kimball and those who work with him in marketing are amazing. You are all the trusted voices of light and knowledge described in the Deseret Book mission statement.

One December I saw a clever sign on the marquee of a Christian church: Christmas is not your birthday! I got their point, but I still had to disagree, because I was born right on December 25th. When I was younger, my parents were afraid my birthday would get overlooked in the holiday rush, so they made a big banner that hung in our home: Happy Birthday to Jesus and Brad! They also started a tradition of putting up two treesone for Jesus and one for me. The idea was that my brothers had to put a present for me under each treea plan that worked well until my older brother bought me a pair of mittens. He placed one mitten under the Christmas tree and the other under the birthday tree, and everything went downhill from there. These days, most gifts just come with a Merry Birthday card to cover both occasions. Heres one I received from my cousin:

Being born on Christmas

Is quite unique because

You never know who brought you

The stork or Santa Claus.

Despite the drawbacks, my Christmas birthday has always added sparkle to the season and made Christmas joyous. However, for some people, Christmas is not the happiest time of the year. Consider the parents waiting in line so their screaming children can see Santa. Think of the store employees who watch people stampede over each other like animals to get the latest electronic gadgets. What about the frazzled teachers who have to deal with children who have been loaded up on sugar since Halloween? Consider the delivery drivers who deal with furious customers when packages arrive late or the airport workers when flights are canceled.

In a more serious vein, Christmas is not always happy for those who are alone, are far from family, or have had a loved one die in a December past. Im afraid the words merry and bright dont just automatically come with the season. They have to be a conscious choice.

I love teaching at Time Out for Women events. In some locations there is also a program called Time Out for Girls. Grandmas, aunts, moms, and Young Women leaders go out of their way to bring their teenage girls to listen to the music and speakers. First thing in the morning, the young women write questions on cards that presenters address later in the day. I enjoy reading those questions. I can really see the difference in the ages and maturity levels of the girls. One young woman wrote, Do you ever get a headache thinking about the Creation and how there is no end to space and how matter cannot be created or destroyed? The very next question was, How do you feel about chicken nuggets?

At one event in Portland, a young woman asked a question that has stuck with me. She wrote, If this is called the plan of happiness, then why am I so miserable? #Falseadvertising. Shes not the only one who has asked such a question when the realities of life have hit hard. Some face bullying and abuse. Others deal with physical, emotional, and mental health issues. There are those who struggle because of the poor choices of those around them, while others face consequences of their own bad decisions. Low self-esteem is compounded by poor communication skills and inability to deal effectively with pressure and stress. Add weak spirituality to that, and pretty soon we all end up wondering whether the plan of happiness is indeed false advertising.

Just as I did at that Time Out for Girls event, I testify that it is not. Latter-day Saints are unique among Christians because we understand that God did not create the world with the goal for us all to live forever in the Garden of Eden. Mortality was Plan A, not Plan B. The Atonement of Christ was not a last-ditch attempt to salvage the wreckage Adam and Eve had made of the world. It was planned from the beginning (see Mosiah 4:6). Repentance was not provided as a safety net for those weak souls who could not be perfectly obedient. It was designed as an essential part of the perfecting process for each one of us.

Mortality was meant to be a schoolcomplete with hard teachers and difficult tests. God gave us freedom knowing full well it would lead to some bad choices. But freedom also offered the opportunity for learning. God made suffering a required course in life, but growth had to be an elective.