Ever since I had kids I seem to be a bit more emotional with things like movies or music. Okay, a lot more emotional. Something about having kids changes a woman's heart to the point that almost everything we see or hear holds some sort of sentimental value. I can't explain it, I just know the feeling. Last year when I began listening to Christmas songs at the beginning of the season, I realized that they brought tears to my eyes. They were happy tears, and the feelings which came pouring out of my heart while I listened were powerful. I was already emotional because I was only a few short weeks away from Randall returning home early from deployment. I was so grateful that he would be home for Christmas, which was an answer to my prayers. Little Clay, at 10 months old, was growing so fast and all the singing about baby Jesus made me long for Clay to stay a baby forever. I was running out of time where he would still be able to fit on my lap when I rocked him. Furthermore, going back to baby Jesus (my favorite thing to say at Christmas time!), just the thought of a newborn baby, lying cold in a manger with not much to keep him warm, made my heart melt. I wanted so badly to take blankets and food to him as he layed there sleeping. After the holidays passed, I wondered if I would have the same emotions and tears for Christmas music in the years to come, or if it was just a fluke event because of the other things that were happening in my life that year. Needless to say, now that this Christmas season is upon us, it was not just a fluke.
This year, my joyful tears are not because of emotional life events taking place in my life, but because I think each year I am realizing more and more the true meaning of Christmas. One song, in particular, hits me right in the soft spot. This song is "Do You Hear What I Hear?" There are too many words to describe my emotions when I hear this song, but all of it has to do with the goodness that the tiny baby, Jesus Christ, brought to the world, to each and every one of us. Find it on the internet or one of your Christmas CDs. Listen to it closely, several times. Think about the meaning of the words and apply them to what you believe. See if it opens your heart to the meaning of the season. Write down what you feel. I want to know what you think.
Mine is definitely "O Holy Night". I just love the words. I remember about 12 years ago now I was at a Christmas concert and the choir was belting out this song and it was as if i was hearing it for the first time. Now every time i hear it i listen to every word and think about how great God is to send His Son to us, especially in the way that He did, as a baby. And I think about the line, "a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices..." and i imagine what it must have been like for the people of the day who had been waiting sooooooo long for the promised Savior to arrive and now He was here. And our joy should still be the same today knowing that we too share in the promises of the resurrection.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, my least favorite song is the one that goes, "Last Christmas I gave you my heart, the very next day you gave it away. This year, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah special." Oh I hate it!!!!