Hidden Heroes in the Christmas Story: Anna, The Prophetess
Release Date: 12/20/2024
Kindness Under Fire: Nurturing Children
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick To nurture someone is another way to be kind. Especially when it comes to little children. The words nurture and nourish come from the Latin word meaning “to nurse.” To nurture someone is to help them grow, develop, or succeed. I think back to the days of nursing our three children and I’m still awed that I was able to provide practically all the nourishment needed by those babies for their first year of life. To me, breastfeeding was nurturing and nourishment all rolled up into one. I’ve enjoyed traveling in what some call “developing” nations...
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Kindness Under Fire: How to Take the Perfect Nap
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick Religion has not always been kind to women. But women also seem bent on exhausting themselves. Today’s woman seems restless. I think St. Augustine could easily have been talking to us when he made this famous statement in his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Religion may not have been easy on women. But Jesus has been supremely kind. That’s why I keep pointing out our enemy, the devil, as the real perpetrator of the war on women. Hurting women has been his game plan from the start. Jesus made a...
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Kindness Under Fire: A Leader with Heart
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick I’m one of those people that gets misty-eyed over our men and women in uniform. My dad is a World War II era submarine veteran. Our family tree is dotted with soldiers back to the Revolutionary War, when our ancestor, Captain Simon Hunt, was one of the 80 minutemen who led the charge against the British with the “shot heard round the world.” Soldiers fight for our freedom. They display courage and discipline. But for me, war is all about heart. A woman of valor is ready to fight the fight of faith and to fight for those she loves because she has heart. The...
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Kindness Under Fire: Teaching Kindness
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick Kindness actually makes people happier. Such were the findings of a Stanford University study. Subjects who did five kind actions each week were happier than those who did not. And those who performed five acts every day were the happiest of all. The study found that happiness is greater when the acts of kindness are directed toward those we know as opposed to strangers. I guess you could say kindness, like charity, begins at home. The Proverbs 31 woman of valor instructed others. I like the way the International Children’s Bible puts it: “She teaches others to be...
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Kindness Under Fire: Rest for Your Soul
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick The Proverbs 31:10 “woman of valor” is kind, and she teaches others to be kind. But we must also consider the kindness of God. Because until we get that one right, we’ll never walk in true freedom. Throughout history, we have seen how women (and all people, for that matter) have done terrible things to themselves and to each other when their view of God is off. We have a good role model in the woman of valor in Proverbs 31. Her wholehearted devotion to God was not from terror, but rather from a reverential awe that filled her with confidence. Such strong faith was...
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Kindness Under Fire: The Female Superhero—Not So Liberating
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick I will readily admit I love superhero movies. Today’s superhero movies have given us quite a rush of female superheroines splashed across our screen—a far cry from the helpless damsel in distress of years past. Perhaps these fit, strong females will provide our daughters with better role models and higher self-esteem? Better think again. Just when we suspected these hard-hitting heroines were saving us from our outdated images of women, this new breed of female superhero might be making things worse. A recent study shows that instead of giving women healthier views...
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Kindness Under Fire: Our Own Worst Enemies
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick You’d think women would have learned by now that sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. For example, the torturous custom of foot binding, which plagued China’s women for over a thousand years, was perpetuated by women. Originally a symbol of female wealth and refinement, foot binding eventually became a symbol of beauty. The smaller the foot—with a three-inch foot being the ideal—the better chance the woman had of getting married. In order to fit into the tiny lotus shoes, women had to literally suffer the breaking of bones in their feet, beginning when they...
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Kindness Under Fire: Showing Kindness to Ourselves
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick I still marvel when I think about how God gave women the added privilege of being life-givers and co-creators of the entire human race. Eve was the first woman. Her name literally means “mother of all the living” (Genesis 3:20). I love Eve’s response after giving birth to the first human ever born to a woman: “Look, I have created a new human, with the help of the Eternal” (Genesis 4:1 VOICE). Another translation puts it this way: “I produced a man” (Gen 4:1 TLV). We’re not only able to bear children, but also to nurture them. What’s more, we have the...
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Kindness Under Fire: She Teaches with Kindness
A Moment of Hope
by Marilynn Chadwick A woman of valor who can find?...The teaching of kindness is on her tongue (Proverbs 31:10,26 JPS). Disney got it right. The scariest villains are often women. Think about it. Cinderella’s wicked stepmother overworked the poor girl and locked her in an attic before she was finally rescued by her handsome prince. The evil Maleficent cast her jealous spell on Sleeping Beauty. Snow White battled a wicked queen who was envious of her beauty. And don’t forget Cruella De Vil [cruel devil] who kidnapped an entire litter of Dalmatian puppies, intending to use their fur to make...
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A Missing in Action Word for Christians: Living Out Kindness
A Moment of Hope
by David Chadwick Kindness. It is a word that our modern society seems to undervalue and it is a “missing in action” concept in the Christian world. This week, my exhortation has been to reclaim kindness. We have talked about remembering how important kindness is, we have talked about how to reclaim it, how to increase a life of kindness and show it to others. Today, I want to call all of us to action to live out kindness from this moment forward. Kindness does not come naturally. It has to be remembered, reclaimed, increased, demonstrated to all, and lived out every day. Unfortunately, in...
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Anna the prophetess is today’s hidden hero. She is one of my favorite heroes in the Christmas story. Like Simeon, Anna’s story is also found in Luke 2, starting in verse 36. I love that God chose to give such a significant role of prophetess to a woman like Anna.
She is another devout character in the Christmas story who heard from the Lord and spoke truth in the temple area. Anna was the daughter of Phanuel. He must have been a Godly man to produce such a wonderful woman like Anna.
The Bible describes her as being “advanced in years.” She married as a virgin and lived with her husband for seven years until he died. She then spent the rest of her life as a widow until the age of 84. After her husband died, Anna spent all of her time in the temple, “worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37).
Anna was in the temple when Simeon blessed Jesus. Upon hearing of the Messiah’s birth, Anna "began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). She, like Simeon, began to give thanks to God. Anna must have known in her spirit that the Messiah had arrived!
Anna was thrilled to speak about Jesus to all who would listen to her that this baby Jesus was the one who would bring redemption to Jerusalem.
The hidden heroes of the Christmas story make the story come more alive for me. None of them knew what a significant role they would play in the coming of Jesus. They weren’t seeking the spotlight. In fact, some of them, like Adam, really messed up. But the grace of God’s story is evident in them all. None of these characters were perfect, but they made themselves available to God to be used by him.
As for Anna, she was humble and servant-hearted. Kind and gentle. And God used her mightily to advance his kingdom. Like all of these hidden heroes, God used each of them so powerfully to help tell the greatest story ever told.
A story we all get to be a part of even today!