The Promise of Christmas.

It's December 1st.  

We have the promise of Christmas as we open the boxes on our calendars (or maybe eat those nasty chocolate candies).  We know in 24 short sleeps The Day will be upon us and we will be in the thick of it.

My heart is swoony this morning.  The blonde child and I shared breakfast at the table.  We talked of this and that and all things kindergarten.  She is getting so big and yet, she is still a child in so many ways.  

The fog on the river is thick this morning and the waters are still.  Baby girl indicates that it looks like ice on the river and that the birds might hurt their heads if they dove out of the sky looking for fish to eat.  

Oh, the perspective of a child.  

I have time to savor my coffee and the Word this morning.  My reading brings me to Isaiah and I'm spellbound by words spoken in love and promise.  My head is full of Andrew Peterson's "So Long, Moses" and my head is singing his words:

"He'll bear no beauty or glory
Rejected, despised
A man of such sorrow
We'll cover our eyes

He'll take up our sickness
Carry our tears
For his people
He will be pierced

He'll be crushed for our evils
Our punishment feel
By his wounds
We will be healed."

I cry as I sing those last words.  

This innocent baby--the one we have in our nativities and like the one I have hidden in my belly--this innocent Baby grew up to carry our tears.  The Lamb that God promised Isaac, that Isaiah spoke of, that we read of in the Gospels.  

He will take it all and cleanse, heal, and repair.  

This is the promise of Christmas and this is what I'm reflecting on this season.  Oh, how I delight in the promise of healing.  There are so many of us dealing with so many things.  We have our cups overflowing with burdens for ourselves and for our loved ones.  This world is so weary and the news never gets any better.  I feel much like the writer when I sing, "Come, thou long expected Jesus."     

But, He will come.  

And, in the meantime, we can experience His healing and love.  We can receive His mercy and forgiveness.  We can rejoice for His Son has taken it all, held it on His shoulders, and offers us joy, cleansing, and the ability to live life.

We will be healed.  

We are being healed.  

And we have already been healed by His blood.  

Hallelujah.   

Ok, seriously.  If you do not purchase any other album this Christmas, RUN and click and purchase this one by Andrew Peterson.  And if you don't cry at least once or six times when you listen to the words,  we may not be able to be friends any more.  We obviously don't speak the same love language.