O Holy December

Once again I have allowed too much time to pass between blogs. It isn't that I don't think about blogging, I think about it a lot. If you know me you know I always have something to say. Nonetheless, December is busy--I am busy.
Every time I thought about blogging during my two weeks in Kansas I put it off. I didn't want to take the time to blog and load pictures when I could be spending the time with my family.
So for the sake of breaking my month long sabbatical from blogging, here are my Christmas thoughts.

This was my first Christmas as a mother of my beautiful baby girl. Just last December I started blogging for the first time because we had just found out we were pregnant and I decided "Well... if I am going to have a baby I better get a blog started." And here I am, a year later, (with a 5 month old at Christmas) and now almost 6 months old (on Jan 20). Motherhood gave me a new lens to look at Christmas through. Including the traditional Christmas hymns and carols. I've been meaning to blog about this since a week before Christmas, so I apologize for the delay, however, I never think it is a bad time of year to reflect on the amazement of Christ's birth.

I have two favorite Christmas songs (this is the first time I have had any favorite Christmas songs). The first is O Holy Night.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

Reflect on these words with me.  Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till he appeared and the sould felt its worth. An event so powerful and so meaningful it was felt deep in the soul. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices. This is my favorite line. The weary world rejoices. Imagine how weary the people of the world were when that promise they had heard of for so long had yet to be born? Think of how weary we can be, how weary things seem, especially in light of yesterday's tragic events in Arizona. Hope. A thrill of HOPE. For a weary world. Fear not, have hope, for oh how divine was the promising night of Christ's birth.

My other favorite Christmas Song is "O Come, All Ye Faithful"

Oh, come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant!

Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him

Born the king of angels:

Oh, come, let us adore him,

Oh, come, let us adore him,

Oh, come, let us adore him,

Christ the Lord.

As I sat holding Lydia Jane at the church Christmas concert, I listened to these words in a brand new light. Oh come let us adore him! Isn't this so true to how we still respond to babies being born? When someone has a baby, people stop them in church, come to their home, even strangers in public stop to 'ooh' and 'ahh', essentially they are asking, "Please, for a moment may we stop and adore this precious baby?" Christ came as a perfectly precious and wonderful baby. We sing this song as if it were the night Christ was born, and if it were, we would come from the ends of the earth begging, "Please, let us adore the baby king.Our Savior, born a tiny precious baby, I want to to stare at Him."

I encourage you throughout the year and especially during Christmas 2011, to really internalize the songs we sing so frequently. Don't miss out on the incredible Truth in these long ago written poems and hymns. They so beautifully express earnest, faithful hearts, seeking after The King born in a manger.