A researcher from UCLA studying marriage said that a couple’s joy in marriage is determined by each partner’s “ability to adjust to things beyond their control.”

I think that definition is helpful to our understanding of Joseph and Mary in the Christmas story.

When Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem, the city’s lodging was sold out. Bethlehem was the kind of small town that people left when they grew up. The census required that everyone return to their home town so Bethlehem was clogged with all those returning to register and pay taxes. You might wonder why Joseph and Mary didn’t stay with relatives - perhaps because no one in their family still lived in Bethlehem.

My mother grew up in White Haven, England and she and her family migrated here when she was in her twenties. Our family no longer has any known relatives in northern England. Similarly, my father was born in Camden, New Jersey but his family moved away and no relatives have lived in Camden for fifty years. If I were required by some government to return to White Haven or Camden, there would be no place for me to stay either.

Back to Joseph and Mary. They arrived in Bethlehem with no reservations and Mary’s baby was about to be born. It was a desperate situation and they had no alternative plan. All they had was each other and their faith in God. And God provided! An innkeeper offered Joseph and Mary shelter in his stable and it was in those humble surroundings that their Ultimate Joy was born.