arrival

it's 1:15 on christmas morning. michael left about an hour ago (we watched lotr for the second time in preparation for the 2 towers) and i am contemplating what to pack to take to my parents' house in the morning. although they are calling for snow - and, indeed, it has snowed intermittently throughout the evening - i am hoping for clear weather. i hate driving when it's messy outside. at least i'm going south of here, where the storm is not supposed to reach. snow is a good thing - if you're holed up inside to watch it fall and drink cocoa and make merry with someone special:)....

sammie joy asked me tonight if, this year, i would be making any new year's resolutions (a bit early, admittedly, but good to think ahead). i chuckled and assured her that the answer was most certainly 'NO.' i have made a resolution to change my actions, my reactions, my thoughts, my heart, etc. at least once a week for the last year. and, to God's credit, i have kept many of them. a lot of things have changed for me since last christmas. A LOT. i'm a very different person now than i was when on the brink of 2002. and i am sure that i will continue to make changes, to adjust as needed, to seek resolution, to pursue the heart of God - but i'm not making any official announcements on january 1...at least not to the blogging world:)....

but tonight, my mind isn't on tomorrow, but yesterday....i'm thinking of a perfect life that entered our reality in a stable somewhere thousands of miles away....of that baby who grew into the man that made blind eyes see and mute tongues cry out with the praise of angels.....of the road to calvary that He bore with my heart in mind....of the sacrifice He made to leave His home and come to mine....of the home He made inside of me.

this is christmas. it is the arrival of the best thing that has ever happened....and will ever happen....to all of mankind. it is God reaching down to show the world His love. it is the beauty and simplicity of a changed heart, of a life given meaning because the creator of the world has offered a way to Himself, of the quietness and rest that can only be found in His presence.

i wonder if his mother and father - and all the animals and all the people who came to see the child that night and in the days to come - i wonder if they felt that peace....and when they stepped out of that tiny barn into the night air and saw the stars shining in the sky.... did they know their lives....that the whole world....would never be the same?

i'm a piece of that legacy that was begun there...in that stable....on that night so long ago. i know who that baby was. i know who He is. and when i see Him face to face someday, i will fall before Him and thank Him for all eternity....

'joy to the world! the Lord is come....'

He has come indeed. merry christmas....