Reflecting

Today has been a beautiful day of reflecting for me. The tree (upstairs at least) is down...almost all signs of Christmas are packed away or on their way to being organized again. And honestly there was a huge sigh of relief to see the bare walls and open space in the living room. As I packed things away this week I began to wonder, what will happen between now and next Christmas....what stage will each of the kids be in next year....did we truly make things meaningful enough? To me, the obvious answer to that last question is no....and probably always will be....because none of my strivings will ever fully communicate the gospel, the incarnation, the miracle of it all to my kids....only the Holy Spirit can do that. Doesn't mean He won't use me in His grand plan. And I am already tucking away ideas for next year. But today I was convicted by the incredible story of the gospel. That conviction came through listening to Behold the Lamb: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ by Andrew Peterson. Thank-you Laura for sharing it with me! So, today on January 11....Christmas, New Year's, Epiphany all past us....decorations packed away....in a quiet (well as quiet as it gets) house in everyday clothes in the midst of everyday chores....my heart worshiped perhaps more fervently than it did all Advent. It's not that I would redo anything about how we celebrated this year....today just convicted me that sometimes it is when we are trying least to create a moment that God steps in and creates one for us.

Recently, Tom and Cole were able to attend a play about the nativity story that they really enjoyed. We were all planning to go...but that was before the epidemic hit. Later, Tom was highlighting parts of the performance to me and reflected that at times it seemed so "happily" crafted....for instance Mary's response to Joseph finding the manger "Oh it's perfect! Joseph you just think of everything!" Tom shared that with me as a husband and father who has been my rock through the deliveries of our four children. From my human perspective I think it is pretty safe to assume that is probably NOT what Mary was thinking at the prospect of having her baby that night. The following words are from Andrew Peterson's Labor of Love, just one of the songs from the cd I mentioned above. The music that accompanies it is just gorgeous.

It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love