Inspired by . . . I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

December hasn't gone as planned. Between one thing or the other, my Dreamer and I have been sick since the 1st. Instead of the twelve days of Christmas, it's been 21 days of sickness.

I hesitate to even mention our situation since I know this time of year is difficult for so many. Those mourning losses and sitting in cancer wards certainly didn't plan that for their holiday.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the author of today's hymn focus, didn't plan to be despairing over an injured son and a dead wife on Christmas day in 1864 but it was that despair that inspired him to write these words:

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace of earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th'unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Yet, Longfellow was not lost in his despair and neither are we. The message of Christmas is the message of hope. Not a pie in the sky hope but a hope sure and fixed in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Messiah. Savior. Redeemer. 

Prince of Peace.

This is the Spirit of Christmas that resounds loudly in the second half of Longfellow's poem.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

5 Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

May the wonder of His love fill your hearts this Christmas and may the hope that is Christ with us give you peace.

Happy Christmas

from our family to yours,

Inspired by . . . What Child Is This?

We've all laughed over those cute videos of children singing the wrong words to popular songs and Christmas carols. 

"While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, a cake of "Velvet" soap came down and clean socks shone around!"

Misunderstood lyrics actually have their own name; mondegreens. This term was coined back in 1954 by Sylvia Wright after, you guessed it, a lyric she had misunderstood as a child.

While I'm sure some of the lyrics in today's carol have been misunderstood there is no mistaking the message or the answer to the title question: What Child is This?

This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

The words are clear enough, once you get past "laud" which means: praise, but what of their meaning?

The Christmas miracle - God made man. Omnipotence and weakness.

The mind of God contained in human flesh and bone. Tiny hands that hold the power to heal and raise the dead.

This is a lot for anyone to grasp, whether you're one or ninety-two.  Dare we believe it? God's promise. Here, now, among us?

A Savior.

Yes. Believe.

The hope of the ages fulfilled. Yet not completely. Has has come. He IS come. He will come again. This time there will be no lap to lay on. Only knees that bow. The wonder we have now, at His birth will be quite different when the trumpet blows, calling us home.

"He became incarnate to have a life to live in our place and to have a life to give in our place. That is what Child this is."

Our hope remains.

Blessings,

Inspired by . . . O come, O come, Immanuel

In this world of instant gratification, none of us have to wait very long for anything. And when we do, we don't like it very much. But some of us have waited. We've waited for things more important than a cup of Starbucks or a driver's license.

We've waited for love. A place to call home. A loved one to come to know Christ.

Or a baby.

The children of Israel had been waiting, too. For a very, very long time.

They had been waiting for a Savior. A Redeemer. A King.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

This ancient advent hymn, translated for us by John Mason Neale, was once part of the medieval Roman Catholic Advent liturgy. On each day of the week leading up to Christmas, one responsive verse would be chanted, each included a different Old Testament name for the coming Messiah. We sing this hymn with the already-but-not-yet sense of waiting. We wait as the exiles did, yet our wait is different.

For He has come.

To the manager . . .  the Word made flesh.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

As we wait for Christmas, as we wait for God's help in the trials and tribulations of this life, we can sing this carol with hope and with confidence. Because we know He is returning . . . 

. . . as King!

Blessings,

1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.

2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain

3 O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

4 O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain

5 O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death's abode. Refrain

6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light. Refrain

7 O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain

Inspired by . . . Advent: prepare Him room

Joy to the world! the Lord is come: let earth receive her King.

Let every heart prepare Him room,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

I can remember the first time I heard this song. I mean, really heard it; with my spiritual ears.

Let every heart prepare Him room,

I love the hymns because they speak Truth and are grounded in theology. Few churches even sing them anymore . . . except at Christmastime. When we do sing them, I often look around and wonder, "Do they hear what they're singing? Does it even register? Do they believe it?"

Imagine what our world would be like if every heart prepared Him room?

That's part of what Advent is; a time of preparation.

So how do we prepare our hearts for Jesus? It's a little bit like preparing the ground for seed.

We want our hearts to be tender toward Him, free of the sin that entangles us. Repent. We want our hearts to be fertilized by His Word, ready to receive. Read.  Most of all, we want to be awake to His presence. Receive.

Being awake and receptive to His presence often means that we have to clear some of the noise out of our lives. While fasting is typically associated with Lent, Advent was often a time of fasting as well.

This year part of my preparation is going to be fasting from the busyness of the season. I'm going to purposefully slow down and savor each moment. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Laura Boggess' book, Playdates with God:

Every moment is sacred when you pay attention to it.

I cannot be reminded of this enough. The Sacred is here with each of us right this very moment. No matter what you're doing. Immanuel is God with us.

The world would not have us see or experience this truth. The enemy will always try to make secular the sacred.

But when we shut out the noise, when we purposefully pause and open our eyes, our hearts to Him - in that moment we will know . . .

the wonders of His love, and wonders of His love,

and wonders, wonders of His love.

Blessings,

Sharing inspiration here:
Small Wonders, Testimony Tuesday, #TellHisStory,
Thought Provoking Thursday, Grace & Truth,
Inspire Me Monday, RaRa Link Up, Intentional Tuesday,
#WordswithWinter, Titus 2 Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursdays,
Encourage Me Monday, Wholehearted Wednesday,
Women with Intention Wednesdays, Word Filled Wednesday,
#GiveMeGrace, Sitting Among Friends, #Glimpsesofhisbeauty

Inspired by . . . gifts for a newborn King


I was shocked to read a recent Washington Post article wherein the writer of the article called the little drummer boy a "jerk" and claimed the song was the worst Christmas song of all. Oops, actually, she said "holiday song." The term is telling, is it not?

I'm not ashamed to admit that the Little Drummer Boy is my favorite CHRISTMAS song, and it truly is a song about CHRISTmas. 

If you're like the writer of the article, questioning the audacity of the little boy to who came to a baby shower without a gift and then played a drum, of all things, think about this:

What do you have that's fit to give a King? What do we have that is worthy of laying at the feet of the Savoir of the world?

Nothing.

He asks only that we come.

pa rum pum pum pum

Humbly.

pa rum pum pum pum

To honor Him.

pa rum pum pum pum

And what does He want, really?

Not the loud, showy harshness of a rat-a-tat tat, but the soft gentle

pa rum pum pum pum

of your heart.

The writer of the article had it wrong; giving of yourself, to God, and to people is not a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for not having an expensive gift to bring.

Giving of yourself, authentically, is the only gift that matters. It's the power of Christ's love in this world. It's the one thing we need the most right now. And it's the only gift that will make a difference.

So come humbly. Come reverently. Honor Him. Give your heart this Christmas.

Then, He'll smile at you,

You and your heart.

pa rum pum pum pum

Blessings,

Sharing inspiration here:
Playdates with God, Testimony Tuesday, #TellHisStory,
Thought Provoking Thursday, Grace & Truth, Weekend Whispers,
Inspire Me Monday, RaRa Link Up, Intentional Tuesday,
#WordswithWinter, Titus 2 Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursdays,
Encourage Me Monday, Wholehearted Wednesday,
Women with Intention Wednesdays, Word Filled Wednesday,
#GiveMeGrace, Still Saturday

Inspired by . . . the Hope of His Coming Vol. 2



What’s your favorite Christmas carol? Mine is Little Drummer Boy, originally entitled Carol of the Drum. It was composed by Katherine K. Davis in 1941 and recorded in 1955 by the Trapp Family Singers. Since that time over 220 artists have recorded some version of the song, in seven languages. {I’m listening to Mannheim Steamroller’s version as I type this.}

It would seem I’m not the only one who loves the story of the humble little boy coming to Jesus with nothing more than a song.

I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum

I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum

That's fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum,

Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum

Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum pum
On my drum

Even more, I love Jesus’ response to his gift.

Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum

It’s a simple song – but it’s filled with Grace and Truth. Many of our traditional Christmas carols contain important Truths about the Messiah. Here is just a sampling - -  see if you can guess which songs these lines are from . . . .

Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,

The cross be borne for me, for you.

Hail, hail the Word made flesh,

The Babe, the Son of Mary.

***

Born a King on Bethlehem plain,

Gold I bring to crown Him again,

King forever,

Ceasing never

Over us all to reign.

***

Joy to the world, the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Do not these words excite and quicken your heart! They do mine!

I’m sure you guessed the last example right away, but I included it because it contains one of my favorite lines: Let every heart prepare Him room – yes, Lord, let it be so this Christmas!

I can understand why the devil is working so hard to keep these beautiful songs out of our public arenas. The Truths of God are powerful. And while many sing these carols mindlessly, there are others who do not. God’s word will not return void.

It may be a fanciful notion, and I have no proof to back it up, but it could be that the Truths in these carols had something to do with the Christmas Truce of 1914. I’ve read several accounts in which the German, French, and British troops are said to have blended their voices together in what could only have been the most powerfully sweet version of Silent Night ever sung. Who can account for such an occurrence in the midst of the horrors of war?

The very One we sing about.

And that brings us to today’s Advent scripture. It’s a Psalm, of course. Psalm 72. Written {for or sung by} by David at the coronation of his son Solomon as king. The psalm is too long for me to post here, but I encourage you to get out your bible, or click through the link, and read it. Although Solomon’s name is made use of here, Christ’s kingdom is prophesied. We should read this Psalm with an eye to Christ, praising Him as a King, and giving thanks for our JOY-filled position as His children and heirs in the eternal kingdom.

As we sing the songs of Christmas

may we prepare our hearts

and give Him room.

Blessings,

Song excerpts:
1. What Child Is This
2.We Three Kings
3.Joy to the World
Printable Christmas Carol Lyrics