Noel

After Thanksgiving the season of Joy begins. Decorations are out in full force. Lights glisten into the night. Gifts are wrapped in festive paper. Colors of red, green, gold, and silver are gleaming brightly. Oh how I love to see the winter gloom come alive in preparation of celebrating Christ’s birth.

But, then, a somber feeling sets in. I noticed it last year. Even more so this year. This season is so much more than the joy we see with our eyes. The depth of what we are celebrating strikes a serious chord. It wasn’t until the words of Lauren Daigle’s Noel resonated with me and brought tears to my eyes. 

Love incarnate, love divine
Star and angels gave the sign
Bow to babe on bended knee
The Savior of humanity

Unto us a Child is born
He shall reign forevermore

Noel, Noel
Come and see what God has done
Noel, Noel
The story of amazing love!
The light of the world, given for us
Noel

Son of God and Son of man
There before the world began
Born to suffer, born to save
Born to raise us from the grave
Christ the everlasting Lord
He shall reign forevermore

This quiet feeling isn’t unwelcome or unwanted. It simply puts a serious note to an overly advertised holly jolly time of year. All the things we do for Christmas isn't the purpose of it. Christmas – the birth of our Savior – is actually for us. There is nothing we have to do but accept the gift.

This is not a don’t do Santa lecture. This is a we celebrate because our hearts MUST cry out. Every part of my being wishes that all the red, green, lights, tinsel, and decorations was in true remembrance of Jesus’s birth. That people really understood hope and the peace that passes all understanding. That we needed a Savior because of our filthy sins and a way to join Him in eternity. That’s Christmas.

I imagine the first Christmas being the opposite of everything festive in my living room. Traveling for a census so close to delivering. Serious. Then no rooms available. Nervous. Childbirth in a space for animals – enough said. A King to save the world coming as an innocent infant. Confusing. My firstborn was a son and placing myself in Mary’s shoes, I couldn’t even begin to comprehend that my child would be the Christ King the moment his flushed pink naked little body was placed on me for the first time.

How did Mary handle all of it?! Did she know {not to be cliché}?  What about Joseph. Surely he felt paternal emotions that night as well.

Again with tears. How can I not. What a joyful season, indeed, but at what cost? As I ponder this and share with you, I’m hoping that my/our grateful hearts last longer than a cut Christmas tree, Frosty, and new presents.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

-The Momma