In A Place Obscure

Listening to Christmas Carols alone allows you to hear them differently.

This year I am away from my family for the greatest celebration of the year.  Normally, we celebrate Advent weekly with feasts and gifts, building up to Christmas Eve and the climax of Christmas morning. The celebration continues through the following mornings leading up to Epiphany.   Not being there is hard. There is so much I am missing out on, but I am reliving fantastic memories every day with every song I hear. Those wonderful carols singing of our blessed Lord are a balm both in what they say and in what I recall in the sounds, tastes, and smells of past Christmases.

By His life He brings us gladness … Watching Abigail place the Dickens village pieces perfectly and uniquely each year.  Moving so often means the setup will never be the same, every year bringing a new creation.    

Haste, haste to bring Him laud… Working with Isaac to bring the tree home and to move all of the Christmas boxes out of storage and into the living room.  In recent years I have taken advantage of his height, delegating the uppermost decorating to him. 

Sing Choirs of Angels… Listening to Micaiah sing carols as she attempts to place each ornament and strand of lights perfectly on the tree.  

Joy of every longing heart… Observing Bear place the trains in perfect rows and yet be unable to stop himself from playing with them. 

Joyful and Triumphant… Dancing with Belle because she insists that I dance.   She dances and I am not allowed to stop spinning.  To me it seems more like a carnival ride and I am the equipment. 

Rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing… Sitting on the sofa holding Shelly’s hand in my left and a glass of wine in my right. Wanting to enjoy another treat she and the girls have prepared but unwilling to free either hand.  

When those Blue snowflakes start falling… Christmas 1992 was when this all got started.  This is our first one apart.     

Awake My Soul…While family is what I am missing so much, it is not the point of the season.  It is just something that we have always done together and love doing together.  The point is that the greatest event in history actually happened, and we celebrate it on this day and throughout this season.   The Child was born, and all has changed and all is being healed…Repeat the sounding joy        

This season we celebrate gives us a way to measure our year, our life. By this blessed moment.  Every year we begin Advent singing Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, and we are reminded on Christmas Day that He has come, bringing Joy to the World as far as the curse is found.

This leads us into the new year mindful that He is making all things new. This isn’t just a season that passes away; Our God is with us all year long. Christmas establishes our calendar.  It is the foundation for our year, and our entire year builds to it.  And our entire year must proclaim it.

O come thou Dayspring…cheer our spirits by thine advent here…As I am fighting sadness that I am not with my family, I am so grateful that they are able to be together.  I find myself dreaming of next year when we will do this season together again, when we can all travel to Idaho to visit the oldest two and hear a beautiful choral performance, when we will sing and dance and feast in a new home with a new twist.  I am reminded that while I dream of the future and what God has in store for our family, He has given us a King who rules now, and we are to sing praises to Him and work for His glory today.

In Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name… King forever, ceasing never.

~written by Patrick