December 14, 2010

nativity

i love christmas

i do

it is by far, my most favorite season

i confess that when we moved to roatan i had to get rid

of alot of christmas paraphernalia and memorabilia

that i had collected over the years

okay confession time:

i had about 15 big plastic containers full of stuff!

garland galore, white lights, outdoor lights, decorations,

candles in shades of ivory or gold, platters, , glass containers 

that i filled to the brim with glass balls and lights,

oil lamps for a soft glow, a nutcracker collection,

christmas books and christmas music and the list goes on

it was tasteful stuff.. it was.

so when we came to roatan i reduced it to

2 boxes

it was an amazing feat!

this is one of my favorite things.

it creates such a soft glow

i could sit and stare at this for hours

thinking about the wonder of the nativity

of the ridiculous yet real plan of God to

make His appearance into the world via a baby

incarnate craziness i think

and to come to a young woman and overshadow her 

by the Holy Spirit

how bizarre

and to appear to simple shepherds on the night shift 

men who were hard working and unassuming

imagine the insanity of that dark night being invaded by glory and light 

of a myriad of holy angels.

no wonder they ran to 'see' this holy One who was born 

imagine the wise men

recognizing a strange yet powerful star in the sky

and following it til it rest over the humble abode of mary and joseph

imagine their shock and amazement when they laid before them

gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh 

 imagine mary looking into the eyes of Jesus and seeing all 

glories of heaven still bursting through Him

Immanuel:  GOD with us!

do i really believe this you ask?

absolutely?!

i believe this as much as i believe

the parting of the Red Sea, the water coming from a rock,

Moses standing on holy ground,

and Elijah calling forth fire from heaven.

all of those were divine moments from the Most High

and the nativity was the consummation of them all

the time when God made His finest appearing and dwelt among us

my heart cries out

O holy night