On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love gave to me
Eight maids a milking.

Throughout this post-Christmas journey, we’ve been looking at the word of the famous 12 Days of Christmas song. Each morning we dive into another meaning hidden behind the silly and often awkward gift we are to receive. Today is really not different. Cloaked in the gift of milking maidens we find another reminder of where God is in the world today. Hidden behind this gift stands another promise of God’s presence in the simple and often overlooked things in life. 

Today is the 8th day of Christmas, and it also is New Year’s day. Many of us make plans for a new year. We set goals, make New Year’s resolutions and plan what this year will hold. And all too often these goals go the way of our wishes in a penny fountain – they are quickly forgotten.

This is what makes today’s gift so amazing. You see on this 8th day of Christmas we are given 8 maids a milking, frankly a gift I’m not sure anyone would request on their Christmas list. Yet in each of these simple maidens doing an everyday task of milking cattle lay a promise so powerful and so personal that this is one of those gifts we won’t want to let far from our side.

As we unwrap this gift of eight, consider the eight blessings on Matthew 5. Also known as the Beatitudes, this gift is one to certainly keep handy. Each of these eight blessings serves as a reminder that in the midst of the challenges that life often affords is a hidden bigger purpose. Perhaps 2017 wasn’t your banner year. Maybe it saw some pretty low moments and often that’s all you’ll see when you look back. But what about when you look closer to examine the moments that surrounded the bad ones. Who was there with you? What good came as a result of it? Where did this challenge propel you? How are you a stronger person today because of it?

The 8 beatitudes, or blessed-be’s, are reminders that even in the midst of the dark days of life we know that God is at work. And this means we can stand. We can face disaster head on. We can stand tall and proud even when we feel crushed on the inside. We can rise up victorious even when defeat is all around us. These are our realities because of the wonderful gift of eight simple farm girls milking cows. From the simple and lowly, God often raises up the brightest and most beautiful blessings.

Have a Merry Christmas and most Blessed New Year!