My kids had a Christmas book when they were younger called “Alabaster’s Song” by Max Lucado. It is a story about a boy who experiences the angel on his tree coming to life. The angel tells him all about the Christmas story and then sings the song he sang the night that Jesus was born. This boy eventually grows and forgets about the angel and the song and it isn’t until he has a boy and hears him ask “Daddy. Do you hear the angel singing?” that it all comes back.
So here’s my moment of confession... The first time I read this story I cried. Like not just a few tears in my eyes but one of those cries where there is a huge lump in your throat and all you can do is catch the tears and breathe until you get your emotions back to a place where you feel you have some control again. God met me in that moment and stirred something deep within me when I heard this story. God wants us to know every moment of every day that he loves us and wants a relationship with us. He never wants us to forget. He loves YOU and wants a relationship with you!
I think over the years I’ve realized the simplicity of this season. Regardless of presents and dinners, decorations and gatherings, carols and cookies - regardless of all life’s circumstances: the highs and lows, the joy and the pain - in the midst of it ALL is the simplicity of the Christmas Story. The story of the birth of our saviour. The one who brings us back to God. The heart of our father is to have us hear, “I see you. I hear you. I know you. I love you. I want to be with you!”.
The story of God’s love for us climaxes between Christmas and Easter in the life of Jesus. There is something special about these moments where God comes and meets us in a quiet night, a moment of reflection, in the words of a carol or in the story of a children’s book where he goes right for our hearts. God, I simply ask - would we hear your simple message of love this Christmas: The message that you see us, you hear us, you know us and you love us. Would we encounter your love for us again or maybe even for the first time this Christmas.
Written by Kelly Beitz
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