The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Jack is finding a spot to cozy up under the tree.

I just love this time of year.  I always have.  As a child, I played my Christmas records, year round, because they made me happy.  That earned me the nickname "Christmas Queen" from my family.  It's a title I still happily claim.  There's not another time of year that makes me happier or brings more joy to my heart.  There's just something so beautiful about how Christmas brings out the best in all of us.  The warmth and kindness that so often gets pushed aside in other times of the year.

I think a lot about Baby Jesus.  How innocent and tiny he was.  And, how he was born into this world as a Saviour to us all.  God humbled himself in such a way - as to clothe himself in flesh and blood and come to our world to show each and every one of us how to conduct ourselves on this planet Earth.  He came to set an example - and to offer us salvation.  He believed in humanity enough to allow himself to be vulnerable.  A tiny baby born into the crudest of nurserys. 

My sisters now have children of their own, and Christmas has taken on new meaning for us.  As I hold these sweet babies, I look deep into their eyes - seeking to see a spark of their soul.  I realize how fragile and precious life is - and I am amazed that God chose to come in the form of a babe.  Who would've thought that the star maker would allow himself to be laid in a manger - and clothed in rags?

I thank God for Christmas - and for the tenderness it brings out in each of us. 

I pray that God blesses you - this day - and every day.  And, I pray that we all remember the sweetness and the vulnerability that God chose to bring himself into our world.  May we all cherish and protect that tenderness in one another.  For, that's one of the loveliest things about living.