May We Sing And Proclaim His Love

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. For you make me glad by your deeds, O Lord;  I sing for joy at the works of your hands. Psalm 92:  1 – 4

I awoke this morning to the sweetest sound! It was Cole beside my bed whispering, “Nan! Nan! Are you awake?”  Even if it was 5:40, I didn’t even mind! We crawled into his bed, talked, and read many of his favorite Christmas books. Miles joined us for a few minutes before we went down for chocolate chip pancakes, and then everyone else soon woke too!

What simple, little gifts these were during this Christmas season. What blessings God gives us and how grateful I am for the gift of life and all His faithfulness and goodness to us.

Kel and her family have been with us for a few days so we could spend some time together with other family members. There was a spirit of Christmas in the air and the boys were excited to get the festivities started! And it has been such a blessing to see others whom we don’t get the opportunity to see very often.

There were a few loved ones missing, but they weren’t forgotten. Among them were Scott and Emily who won’t be with us this year as they join her family in Texas, but we know they will have a wonderful time and will be with us in spirit. And thankfully, we will be able to send messages and videos back and forth to each other over the next few days!

What a blessing it is to be with those we love and, how nice it was to have our home filled with the smell of good food, hot spice cider, the sounds of laughter, and Christmas music playing softly. And  every now and then, Cole had us all go to the basement as he played on his Uncle Scott’s drum set and we sang along to Bruce Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” which played in the background. That definitely livened things up a bit! (Yes, it was like the Grisworld’s family Christmas!)

What is it about this time of year that just makes us smile, want to sing, and have those feelings of true joy and happiness?  I know much of it has to do with family, friends, decorations, lights, music, trees, candles, good food, and presents. But there is much more, and that is knowing that God has sent His Son to earth to give us the gift of eternal life. Through Him we have hope. Hope that gives way to joy. He through His magnificent power and glory has given us all we could ever need or hope for.

And in return we want to celebrate, praise and give Him much glory. We can celebrate that we are a part of the Holy Family of God. He loved us enough to make a way for us to be His children. Because of this gift, we can sing as the angels did that first Christmas – “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  We can praise and worship God as we celebrate who He is and what He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ.

“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night . .  I sing for joy at the works of your hands.”    

 Prayer

Our most kind and gracious Father, we give you all honor, glory and praise for the gift of life and especially for life with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for the gift of family and friends and for all your goodness to us. May our hearts be opened to those who are less fortunate than we are or who are experiencing sadness and difficult situations during this season of Christ’s birth. May we share your love and faithfulness with them in the hope that we can bring a song to their hearts and a renewed hope for the future. Amen