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A Dream Comes to Fruition

A Dream Comes to Fruition

 

Several years ago, I was feeling a little down about how Christmas had become so commercialized and even I was getting caught up in the consumer Christmas.  I had a dream that there would be a sweet symbol of the fact that we celebrate Christmas to celebrate the greatest Christmas gift mankind was ever given, and that was a baby, the King of Kings, born in a barn.  The Son of God came to Earth to save us from a life separated from our Father in Heaven.  He came to be the sacrifice, the spotless lamb, who would take the sins of the world upon his shoulders.  While candy canes, wreaths, lights, gifts, trees, and even St. Nicholas all have a history rooted in the true meaning of Christmas, those meanings have been lost.  I wanted a symbol that could not be explained without telling the story of Jesus. So the idea of Iam the Lamb was born.  He represents Jesus, a spotless lamb, the final sacrifice.  The Lamb of God who was born on Christmas Day.

I talked about this dream to my family every Christmas for several years.  They encouraged me to follow through but I didn't know how (plus I'm more of an idea generator than a follow-through-er).  So my husband came up with the first line and our daughter, Madison who was 19 at the time, finished the story. It was special and I knew I needed to do something with it.  So step by step I started the process of finding an illustrator and getting the book published.  God put the right people in front of me every single step and provided the finances to bring the book and plush lamb to a reality.  He truly was my partner in this project! 

Thank you for reading our story.

With love and gratitude,

Stephanie Karr 

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Lamb and Shepherd in One (A Reflection on John 1:29 and John 10:11)
Lamb and Shepherd in One (A Reflection on John 1:29 and John 10:11)

When John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching the Jordan River, he made a declarationthat captures the whole mission of Christ in a single sentence: “Behold, the Lamb ofGod who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29 Some translations say “Behold…” others say “Look…” but the meaning is the same.John the Baptist, whose purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah, identifiedJesus not first as King, Lord, or Teacher, but as a Lamb. Why Did John Call Jesus a Lamb? In Scripture, a lamb symbolizes innocence, purity,and sacrificial offering. From the Passover lamb in Exodus to the lambs offered daily inthe temple, the image consistently pointed to substitution: one life given so anothercould live. By calling Jesus “the Lamb of God,” John was saying: Jesus is God’s chosensacrifice; provided by God Himself, not by human priests; Jesus came to remove sin,not just cover it temporarily; and Jesus’ mission from the start was sacrificial, aimed attaking away “the sin of the world.” This was not poetic language. It was theological truth: Jesus came to die as the perfectoffering for humanity. But, John 10:11 offers an amazingly divine contrast. In anothermoment, Jesus described Himself in a completely different way: “I am the goodshepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” — John 10:11Here, Jesus is not the lamb. Here, He is the shepherd. A shepherd who protects,guides, and willingly gives His life on behalf of His flock. This creates a profound andbeautiful paradox: Jesus is both the Lamb who is sacrificed and the Shepherd whosacrifices Himself. At the cross, Jesus fulfills both identities: 1) As the Lamb, He offers Himself as thespotless sacrifice to take away sin; 2) As the Shepherd, He lays down His life out ofdeep love for His sheep. The Shepherd becomes the Lamb so the lambs may becomechildren of God. In Jesus, God reveals a redemption plan beyond human imagination: aLamb who saves, a Shepherd who dies, and a Savior who holds both identitiesperfectly. Only God could unite those two images in one person and design such a perfect storyof love, sacrifice, and salvation, where Jesus is both the Lamb and the Shepherd. By Ted Karr Image:  This is another one of the beautiful pieces of artwork from Jamie that will be in our Psalm 23 book.