Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

"Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel"

Mary

Photo by Michal Pechardo

Mary

Luke 1:26-38

"26 In the sixth month after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. 27 He was sent to a virgin. The girl was engaged to a man named Joseph. He came from the family line of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel greeted her and said, “The Lord has blessed you in a special way. He is with you.”

29 Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of greeting this could be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. 31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago. 33 The Son of the Most High God will rule forever over his people. They are from the family line of Jacob. That kingdom will never end.”

34 “How can this happen?” Mary asked the angel. “I am a virgin.”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Most High God will cover you. So the holy one that is born will be called the Son of God. 36 Your relative Elizabeth will have a child even though she is old. People thought she could not have children. But she has been pregnant for six months now. 37 That’s because what God says will always come true.”

38 “I serve the Lord,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me just as you said it would.” Then the angel left her.

O come thou wisdom

Photo by Thought Catalog

"O come, Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things, far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go"

Photo by John Price

"O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery"

Photo by Joe Yates

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas."

– Calvin Coolidge

Emmanuel

Photo by Tyler Nix

"O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear"

Hot Chocolate and a sense of wonder

Photo by Alisa Anton

As I sit here typing, I am drinking a hot chocolate from the Lobby Coffee Bar.  I love hot chocolate.  I love it so much that last year I actually had to give it up during Lent just to see if I could.  (I could!)  All that chocolatey warmth and whipped cream topped yumminess, I just can't help drinking them, especially on a cold day like today.  The smell of snow is in the air and I am wrapped in my new plaid scarf.  Content for the moment.  A respite from the crazy December I've had.

In just two weeks, our family dealt with four colds, two ear infections and pink eye.  The last one was me. (Thank you so much middle school student where I taught that day!  What a nice Christmas gift.  You do remember that Rudolph had a red nose, not a red eye, right?....)  Hubby was away for work, which brought on the usual plague of illnesses and lack of sleep.

In the midst of this, I was shopping for gifts, attempting to make the perfect Christmas cards, printing out the address labels and sending out 80 cards to my closest friends and family.  I may have slept a couple of hours in there.

Life is crazy.  Especially in December.  No matter how much we try for it not to be or aim that we won't be so "commercialized" this year, it happens.  December is just gonna be that way.  The key to December is to take hot chocolate breaks.  Maybe literally.  (You know I will be!)  Or figuratively, in the sense that we need to take a few moments each day to sit and sense the wonder of the season.  December is all about those little moments.  The one where your daughter blurts out Jingle Bells in the middle of CVS and makes everyone smile.   The one when your children find the Elf on the Shelf climbing on the freezer with an ice cream scoop.  The one where you find yourself mesmerized once again by the holiness of the Holy Night.  The beauty of Christmas lights.  Baking cookies with friends.  Coming home to family.  What is your hot chocolate moment?

My favorite moment of wonder came this past Monday as I sat at the round table at my moms group.  We were all a bit weary.  But, we became captivated as one of our mommas held her one month old baby.  He smiled and then fell asleep so gently and quietly.  I was struck by the fact that Christ came to us like this.  So small.  So helpless.  So beautiful and new.  The infant Jesus.

This December, I wish you many "hot chocolate moments" of wonder.