The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2:20, NIV
They remembered. “Glory to God in the highest heaven"
By Tami Heim
By any chance, did you wake up wishing Christmas lingered a little longer this year? I did. I’ve been thinking about the shepherds and the afterglow they experienced seeing the heavenly host of angels and then gazing on the face of the baby Jesus. I image they shared the story of that night often and every time they did it brought them new comfort and joy. I simply refuse to surrender the sacred sweetness of this Christmas season. Will you refuse, too? I’m making some choices today and invite you to join me.
Today I’m going to…
- Read again, slowly, Luke chapter one AND two
- Savor the joy that flows as I remember my Savior’s birth
- Pray over family and friends that have yet to make Him room in their hearts
- Shout “Glory to God in the highest” \0/
- Sing the first and last chorus of O Come Let Us Adore Him
- Listen for the sound of heaven and nature singing
- Hum – a lot
- Wear my red and green Christmas socks
- Send cyber goodwill online to 20 people I’ve never met in real life
- Compose a list of my most favorite Christmas memories
- Look through the family photo albums and delight in Christmas past
- Light every holiday candle in my house and watch the flames flicker, glow, and reflect in the windows
- Give a special gift to someone who is completely not expecting it
- Dance the Charlie Brown Christmas jig through the house – twice
- Watch another Christmas movie
- Crank up my favorite Christmas music
- Write a Christmas poem to my grandson due to be born in February
- Add more pins to my holiday boards
- Eat one more piece of peppermint fudge pie – if there’s one left
- Read the greetings and personal notes in every Christmas card I received this year and last
- Digitally deposit daily doses of love, comfort, and joy in the hearts of my family and friends
And now I am going to begin with the last one here. It’s important because it’s the one to-do item on the list that reaches well beyond today. I’m depositing, from my heart to yours, one of my all time favorite Christmas pieces. I pray the Christmas Spirit continues to fill your heart with His love, comfort, and joy today and every one of the next 364 days to come. I refuse to let go and I hope you do, too.
The Christmas Spirit ~ by E.C. Baird
I enter the home of poverty, causing pale-faced children to open their eyes wide in wonder.
I cause the miser’s clutched hand to relax, and thus paint a bright spot on his soul.
I cause the aged to renew their youth and to laugh in the lad old way.
I keep romance alive in the heart of childhood, and brighten sleep with dreams woven of magic.
I cause eager feet to climb dark stairways with filled baskets, leaving behind hears amazed at the goodness of the world.
I cause the prodigal to pause a moment on his wild, wasteful way, and send to anxious love some little token that releases glad tears, tears which was away the hard lines of sorrow.
I enter dark prison cells, reminding scarred manhood of what might have been, and pointing forward to good days yet to come.
I come softly into the still, white home of pain, and lips that are too weak to speak, just tremble in silent, eloquent gratitude.
In a thousand ways I cause the weary world to look up into the face of God and for a little moment forget the things that are small and wretched.
I am the Christmas Spirit.
How will you be spending these days after Christmas?
Tags: Angel of the Lord, Christ, Christianity, Christmas, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, God, holiday, Jesus, Luke, New International Version, Opinions, Religion and Spirituality
