quite honestly, i can't reconcile my mixed bag of pre-Christmas feelings just yet. so i won't try to organize them and button up the jumbled thoughts i feel this holiday season of suggested joy. as i said to someone recently, how is it that i'm trying to find great and fun and original gift ideas to buy my kids (and actually having some difficulty with that task because there isn't much more to be given when you have most things anyway) while across the world a little girl in Aleppo is tweeting her real-life horror story of fleeing war and her busted up home and her dolls destroyed and hoping to see another day. how is it that i'm stashing and stuffing treasures here and there, i'm making Christmas baking ingredient lists and buying pretty paper to decorate and hide my purchases in anticipation of the morning we exchange gifts (and i do love this part!), while children in Aleppo (and Haiti and Burundi and Ethiopia, to name only a few) run low on food and security and hope of ever seeing brighter tomorrows....that feels so messed up. because it is, quite simply. it just is. so i leave it there. but this Christmas season, as we usher in all the festive parts we love and cherish, i feel more than any Christmas before a deep comfort in the Real Reason we celebrate. if not for that baby, that King of the World who in the most beautiful and humble way brought Hope and Light into a simple stable in Bethlehem that dark night so long ago...if not for Him, where would we be? whatever would be the point in the festivities? they would be meaningless to me.
yes, i'm abundantly thankful this Christmas for the gift of Jesus. for the miraculous birth of that baby~ whose arrival signaled Hope and Peace and Love. for the many who witnessed it then and still for us today. for me. for sweet little Bana in Aleppo. for all the children in this world. so, just like last year, i'm linking the Christmas song by Lauren Daigle that captures this in exquisite clarity. enjoy, again...
Light of the World
the world waits for a miracle
the heart longs for a little bit of hope
oh come, oh come Emmanuel
a child prays for peace on earth
and she's calling out from a sea of hurt
oh come, oh come Emmanuel
and can you hear
the angels singing
glory to the light of the world
glory the light of the world
is here
the drought breaks with the tears of a mother
the baby's cry is the sound of love come down
come down, Emmanuel
He is the song for the suffering
He is Messiah, the Prince of Peace has come,
He has come, Emmanuel
glory to the light of the world
glory to the light of the world
glory to the light of the world
glory to the light of the world
for all who wait, for all who hunger
for all who've prayed
for all who wonder
behold your King
behold Messiah
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
glory to the light of the world
glory to the light of the world
glory to the light of the world
behold your King
behold Messiah
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
the world waits for a miracle
the heart longs for a little bit of hope
oh come, oh come Emmanuel
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