It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Hello friends! Are you getting all your Christmas decorations placed around the house and in the yard? I look forward to lighting up the house and yard with twinkling lights and adding a little sparkle all around. Despite the tedious process, I wrap the tree with lights each year because there is nobody else to volunteer to do it – so it’s all done! I felt accomplished before we watched a Hallmark Christmas movie last night…and stuffed my face with chocolate chip cookies.

Someone handed down a nativity story board book I was reading with the girls this week and I stopped on one page with a picture that made me think. Mary was holding baby Jesus in the picture with the adorable animals quietly watching her and it says that she treasured that moment and held it in her heart. I tried to imagine being a young teenage girl, unmarried, with a baby, which could result in stoning, and beyond that, the baby is the Savior of the world! This was real life for Mary.

I am a picture freak so I want pictures of everything that happens – outfits, events, holidays, everything. Mary did not have the luxury of pictures or video to remember the day her precious baby was born. Can you imagine how it felt in that stable surrounded by animals and dirt? The dichotomy of the King of Kings born in a stable makes my jaw drop. That night, with a bright star above, the prophecy was fulfilled. The Old Testament and the New Testament were bridged by the tiny innocent baby. God’s personal love was sent to us. The One waited for so long to set His people free from sin arrived.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Up Above the Northern Lights because it reminds me of snow falling over bare trees on a dark, still, quiet of a winter night. I wonder if it was still when Jesus was born and in that reverent moment He cried His first cry. I wonder if the animals sensed the world-changing event taking place in their dirty little home. I wonder if Mary teared up when she heard her baby cry like many mothers do today in hospitals when their precious ones are born.

I feel it is super important to look into the lives of people we learn about in God’s Word and make it come to life. They were regular people like we are and have the same feelings, needs, and desires we do today. The only difference is the time period. Sometimes I tend to think they were super-Christians or had it all together or are just more holy than me. In reality, they were broken like I am.

What are your most memorable Christmas memories? What traditions make you smile this time of year? I would love to hear some of your Christmas favorites! There are many people and activities that compete for attention in life. I’ll be back next week. In the meantime, find a moment to spend with Luke 2 in your Bible and a hot drink like my personal favorite, caramel brulee latte, and imagine what it was like for this young man and woman placed as mother and father of our Lord many years ago.

Love,

Charis