One More Christmas Thought...

I know that it's January 13 and that Christmas is now put away until next December, but I wanted to write this blog post so many times and never found the opportunity to make it happen during the holiday season, so forgive me for holding on to the Christmas spirit for one more post.

This was our first Christmas with our Peanut, although last year he was so much closer than we realized! When I think back to last year, besides remembering how big I felt (and let's face it...was!), I remember the unbelievable anticipation I had as I waited for the arrival of our baby boy, and as silly as it might sound, I remember thinking, "This must be what Mary felt like!" Now granted, I'm sure that my anticipation was a fraction of hers, but never-the-less, last year God gave me a gift, allowing me to identify with the Christmas story in a way that I never had before.

This year, I received a similar gift, but in a different way. As we began listening to Christmas music, one of my favorite songs from a few years ago (Joseph's Lullaby by MercyMe) came on the radio, but this year, it touched me so deeply that I cried...and it continued to touch my heart all season long, as I teared up (and I'm not kidding about this) nearly every time I heard it! (It truly became a running joke in our house!) The words are as follows:

Go to sleep my Son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before You
Rest Your little head

Can You feel the weight of Your glory?
Do You understand the price?
Or does the Father guard Your heart for now
So You can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my Son
Go and chase Your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child

Go to sleep my Son
Baby, close Your eyes
Soon enough You'll save the day
But for now, dear Child of mine
Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight

As I listened to the words of this song and held my baby, I was struck for the very first time (and I've known the Christmas story for a while now ;)) with the truth that our heavenly father who created the universe loved us enough to come to Earth as one of us, showing us, as Dr. Scates, the senior pastor at our church, has said a number of times, that he wasn't ashamed to put on human flesh. But it's not just that God became human, which is hard enough to wrap my mind around. It's the fact that he didn't appear on the earth as a grown-up. He came to earth as a baby. He had earthly parents who took care of his every need. Mary was up with him in the middle of the night. Joseph held him when he cried. Can you even imagine what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph? They knew that this baby was the son of God, and yet, at the same time, he was their little boy, and they adored him just like I adore P.

The idea that Mary and Joseph probably struggled daily with wanting to do the very best job they could to help God fulfill his plan, and yet, just wanting, especially in those precious, quiet moments when they looked upon their sleeping little boy, for Jesus to be just that...simply their baby boy to love. I think it was the humanness of our savior that caused me to be overcome with such emotion over and over again. What a gift to have even the tiniest-bit-better understanding of how much God loves us.

I realize that this gift will most likely continue to surface in different ways each year, which I am so thankful for, because admittedly, when you combine a procrastinator like myself with Christmas and a child's birthday, it is so easy to lose focus on the real reason for the season, even when PURPOSEFULLY trying to be focused. But that's how God works...even in the midst of all of the worldly messages that were so loud they could have easily drowned out a quiet truth...God was there, whispering to me, "I love you, my child...I love you so much that I sent my only son for you. He came to this earth as a helpless baby - just like you, and lived an earthly life - just like you, and then died for you and defeated death, so that you might have eternal life." What a wonderful reminder of how the greatest love story ever told started...with a tiny baby in a manger. "Emmanuel...God with us." (Matthew 1:23)

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and that the true meaning of the season stays with you all year.

And if you're interested...I found this posted on YouTube. It's the MercyMe song I was talking about with images that conjured up those emotions for me again when I saw it...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PytP9XPhP1g