After the apple pie had been eaten and the pumpkin cheesecake demolished, we drove an hour to a big Christmas light display in Kansas City.
The melodic joy of Oh Holy Night rang through my soul, and I shed all the busy activity and stress of Thanksgiving like a skin that had gotten too tight.
I found myself settling into the cozy nook that is the Christmas season.
For a whole month the world will be filled with the sights, sounds, and smells that remind us of the greatest event that ever happened.
For four weeks the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Sure, some people will think they are celebrating family, happiness, or Santa, and will consider their festivities to have little to do with God.
But this is the only holiday with the fanfare and the hoopla that can come close to what Jesus deserves for coming down from glory to be born in a manger.
The happy smiles and singing hearts are the closest many people will come to worshiping the God who loved them enough to give them the gift of his Son.
Oh yes, at Christmas, He is celebrated.
Those of us who know Him can hardly hold in the triumphant praise that wells up in our hearts during this season.
A King that became a poor little baby was born for us; to save us; to set us free; to walk among us and prove that we are God’s precious children.
Christmas is a comfortable spot by the fire at the end of a long and difficult year. We made it to December. It is time to open our arms and worship Immanuel.
The hour drive to the Christmas lights tonight was tedious. The lights fell a bit short of our expectations.
But Christmas is worth the effort.
Driving back home, I thought how I don’t really need impressive lights to feel the warm glow of this precious holiday.
Love has been born in my heart because of Christmas. Its embers glow and light my life in more fantastic ways than any string of bulbs ever could.
Let the Christmas season begin.
