The cradle is means a great deal to me as I consider Christmas. God chose to have Jesus come to earth as a baby, born in a simple place, laid in a cradle. This says to me that God wants us to see Jesus as a real, sweet, wonderful, baby in a cradle . . . drinking milk, eating cereal, learning to sit and crawl—just as I was able to see my sweet son grow. Jesus is real, not just words on a page. Is the babe in a cradle how God is able to get our minds to realize how amazing, incredible, unbelievable the sacrifice both He and Jesus made for us? You have to have the “cradle” before you can have the cross or the crown.  —submitted by Kay Anthony, US