[This is part of a series of posts we are doing as personal blog posts to feed your souls. Check out the rest of them here.]
I love Christmas.
Maybe not as much as my 9-year old son, who three years ago after our move to the US embraced a firm belief in Santa (we don’t give presents for Christmas in The Netherlands where I grew up, but celebrate St. Nicholas on December 5th). He’s eagerly looking forward to the stacks of presents he’s expecting.
I love Christmas.
Decorating my house in Christmas style, putting up the tree, seeing all the lights, and listening to Christmas music—for me, it is a most wonderful time of the year. There’s something so exciting about this time of year, that is so full of expectations.
I love Christmas.
One reason I love it, aside from the decorations and music, is because I love buying gifts for people. I guess one of my primary love languages is buying gifts and it’s always an exciting challenge for me to buy great gifts for those I love. Plus, being Dutch, I love a good deal as well, so you’ll find me bargain hunting for awesome gifts the whole month.
I love Christmas.
In the hustle and busyness of December, it can be hard to lose track of the real reason to be excited for Christmas. That’s why, every year, I choose one Christmas song (and by Christmas song, I mean a song that’s about Christ being born) and meditate on the lyrics.
Silent Night is a wonderful song to think about, as is Joy to the World, and there are many more. Such rich lyrics that make you ponder the depth of God’s love. This year, my song is ‘Mary did you know’. I came across this goosebumps-inducing version by Pentatonix that I keep playing over and over.
[Video via YouTube]
Here’s a fragment:
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you
As I read these words, as I listen to this song, I wonder. Did Mary know? Having been pregnant myself, I can attest to the deep feelings you have as a mother for your unborn child. Even when my son was still being created in my womb, I loved him with all that I had. I’m sure Mary must have been the same.
She’d talked to the angel, she’d seen the wonder of Elisabeth’s baby boy, she knew the prophecies—but did she fully understand? Did she know her baby boy was the Christ, the Son of God? It makes me feel for her, this young mother, holding her baby, protecting him from the evil already attacking him.
And as I wonder and think and ponder and meditate, my heart fills anew with the wonder and joy of Christmas. I’m struck again by the sheer magnitude of the Creator of heaven and earth, the Most High, being born as a fragile infant, and entrusted to the care of humans like you and me. Oh, how God loves us!
My wish and prayer for you, this Christmas, is that your heart be filled anew with joy and wonder—and that you may experience Emmanuel, God with us, with you and me.
I love Christmas.
[Photo credit: Lightstock, all rights reserved]
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