When they arrived in Bethlehem, they went to the only hotel in town. It was full of other people who had to come to be counted too.
They wandered the streets with nowhere to go. Mary and Joseph were homeless. Joseph was so ashamed.
Joseph was afraid God was mad at them. After all, God had trusted him to take care of his baby and Mary. Joseph had let them down.
Finally he began knocking on doors to see if they could stay in someone's house. But everyone's house was full with other people visiting Bethlehem to be counted.
After awhile, Joseph left Mary to sit out on the curb so she wouldn't have to walk to all those houses. He made their donkey lie down so Mary could lean on it.
"My wife is about to have a baby," he'd plead at each house. "Can you let us stay in your house, at least tonight?" But no one had any room left in their already crowded houses.
Finally Joseph gave up and sat down on the curb with Mary, wondering what to do. They prayed, "God help us find a house to stay in."
Suddenly Mary had an idea. A barn would at least put them under a roof. Joseph didn't see any other choice. He asked God to forgive him for having to go to a barn.
But Mary said they'd have a lot more room in a barn than all those people crammed in those houses. And they'd have their privacy too.
Then Jesus was born. There was clean hay nearby. So Joseph made a cradle for baby Jesus in a feeding trough with a mattress of clean hay. God looked down and smiled.
By the next day, some shepherds had spread word all over town a baby had been born in a barn. Even though Mary and Joseph later moved to a house, people laughed at them for living in a barn.
But Mary and Joseph learned not to be ashamed of their barn. So whenever people made fun of them, they would just hold their heads up and walk tall.
Is there something in your life you are ashamed of? Practice smiling and walking tall, even when people make fun of you. Then you'll be just like Mary and Joseph.