Breathing in the wonder that is Christmas.

Fog rises.

My breath, frozen in the early morning air. The only sounds are of winter’s twilight. A gentle breeze rustles the last remaining leaves.

Almost silence.

The lake has frozen over.  Softly, water bubbles below the frosted surface. Ice forms, and the once fluid space becomes a new creation.

The marvels of wintertime.

It seems that the peace that we so long for during this beautiful season is often lost.

It is hidden in the clamorings of this place. The meager space that Christmas occupies in our hurried, holiday existence. Buried beneath the seemingly constant battering of the enemy.

It is Christmastime and we, as a world, are in chaos more than ever before.

We don’t have to look far to see the desperation for hope.

The anguish seems to rain heavy, as we hold tight to any thread of promise.

…

Just miles away, a friend is likely sobbing in her pillow tonight, as the rest of the house is sleeping. She lies frozen in fear, days ticking slowly by, awaiting the results of her 8-year-old son’s biopsy.

Across town, a middle-aged mother finds herself wondering who will take care of her child with special needs when she leaves this world.  She ponders her own mortality in the light of a recent cancer diagnosis.

Engulfed in the frustration and sense of helplessness wrought by their journey to find answers in a convoluted, medical masquerade ~ a couple confronts the unfairness of it all. After months of specialists and innumerable examinations, the doctors are left in a quandary.

Having moved closer to family, this is the first Christmas without her son. A young, single mother whose 12-year-old suddenly died just months ago. She is seeking solace in the midst of a desperately fragile and broken heart. Her gut wrenches with emptiness this holiday.

Living alone and estranged from his adult daughter, an man sits for hours in a sea of misery ~ enduring wave after wave of heartache. Another Christmas without his family. A desperate sense of loss turns his world to gray, and his heart colder than the wind howling outside.

…

Lamentations 3:24

The Lord is all I have, and so in Him I put my hope.

Like thousands of years ago, humanity is yearning.

How we ache for a Savior.

And though it may feel like eternity as we move through the groaning of these days, our time here on this earth is but the blink of an eye. This is not our home. There is New Life waiting for us.

A life beyond our struggles.

…

God, the greatest gift giver of all time, has sent to us His Son.

 Jesus ~ the Messiah.

Because of His great love for us, one day we will join Him in eternal life.

A life free of fear and loss.

Absent of disease.

Exempt from pain.

This IS the wonder of Christmas.

 

Isaiah 9:6

     For to us a child is born,
    to us a Son is given,
    and the government will be on His shoulders.
And He will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

In this holy season of Advent, as we celebrate His birth, we are reminded of the true and lasting gifts of Christmas.

The gifts that don’t distract, but rather develop in us our trust in the Lord.

The gifts that pierce the darkness of night, bringing Light to our shattered world.

The gift of HOPE.

Hope is the promise that He is here to save us from the sin and shadows of this world. The expectation that God’s sovereignty will redeem all things.  Even in the wounded and broken places of our lives.

He is our hope when all seems lost. When our hearts have been abandoned.

It is in Him that we can look beyond our circumstances to a greater, more breathtaking view of this life that we live.

A life given to walk not alone, but together with our beautiful Savior.

The gift of PEACE.

It is written in the Word….‘the peace of God, which transcends all understanding’.

Christ offers us quiet amid the chaos. Even when the world says that it’s not possible ~ that there is no logic in it.

Our Savior defies the reasoning of this world.

His presence is supernatural. We need only reach for Him in faith, for His loving arms are always extended in our direction. His embrace ~ a respite from the storms of this life.

Christ offers a warm, and radiating calm ~ a stillness that quiets our longing.

He is Comforter, and in Him we find rest.

The gift of JOY.

Oh…to delight in His great Presence!

The wages of sin and pain in this world can no longer hold us bound.

Instead we wrap ourselves in a royal cloak of gladness, for we are children of the King.

Gratitude finds its way into our fragmented hearts and doubt is replaced with song.

Fear is exchanged for dancing.

We rejoice in His coming!

…

The gift of LOVE.

And the greatest of these is love.

Love has come down from Heaven, wrapped as a babe. 

A quiet child, laid in a manger ~  the One to come and save us.  Save us from sin. Save us from ourselves. The only Love that could overcome the grave.

Our Emmanuel.

The Light of the World.

Great Counselor.

King of Kings.

Lord of Lords.

The Prince of Peace.

And He came for each one of us.  For you. For me. To deliver us.

There is truly no greater love.

In the dark silence of a winter morning, He came.

…

---

Day breaks, and the cardinal chatters at the treetops.  ‘A new day!’ he cries.

A blue-jay calls to announce his arrival.

All Creation sings!

The JOY of the Lord abounds in this moment.

In this breath. 

In this day. 

And so we sing…

Oh, come let us Adore Him!

Christ, the Lord!