Merry Christmas!

This is the day the Word became flesh and dwelt among us -- what a miracle -- God came down in human form to be among us -- to ultimately die for our salvation, so that God the Father would see Christ's atoning blood and reckon it to us as salvation to forgive us of our sins so that we who accept Christ as our Savior and Lord, repent of our sins, and accept Christ's sacrifice on the cross as atonement for our sins may be reconciled to the Father for all eternity! Blows me away every time I think of it, even shed tears as I write. I can never not cry when I think about it.

What King could we imagine here on earth, a human one, who would expect to be born, almost anonymously, in a stable of all places, as humble as could be, without the trappings we value so much on earth. Think of the beautiful cribs we buy for our babies, and the rooms we set up. And yet He was the perfect son of the God who created all. And He came to us as a humble baby, and spent the first 30 years of his life again almost anonymously and worked as a laborer. Not just a miracle -- the most beautiful of miracles! Fall on your knees and hear the angels' voices, O, Night Divine, O, Night When Christ was born. Hallelujah! And Praises to God in the Highest!

On an earthly level, as I write this early in the morning, my Mama is tucked away with visions of sugar plums dancing in her head. I woke her up at 6 a.m. and said Merry Christmas! It's Christmas, she said. Yep, what day is that, I asked. December 25--she got it right. Whose birthday is it? Jesus'. I'm listening to Celine Dion's beautiful rendition of O Holy Night -- Christ is the Lord, let ever ever praise we, Noel, Noel, O Night, O Night Divine.

May you and your loved ones have a beautiful, sacred, blessed Christmas. And may we forever be grateful for the greatest gift of all!