Dec
15
2017
A Song To Sing
Posted in Christmas 4 Comments
I teach a Bible study in my home.
It is a blessing to have such a wonderful group of women.
They come to my house every other Wednesday.
We open God’s Word and study it together.
Women of all ages come to the Bible study.
Young moms can bring their children thanks to the two home school girls who watch them.
I love to see the children’s excitement as they come in and run right down to the basement.
I rotate my children’s toys so they do not play with the same things each time.
In this Advent season, I got out the Fisher Price Nativity set.
Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus are large so that little fingers can play with them safely.
An angel fastens to the top of the manger.
Three Kings bearing gifts are set up on the side as they travel from the East.
The children love to play with the Nativity set.
All of us women are in the kitchen and the family room.
We can faintly hear the voices of the children as they play downstairs.
It is wonderful to know that they are safe and having fun.
The women take turns reading the passage we are studying.
One of the young moms began to read a chapter.
Soon after she started to read, I heard one of the little children singing.
I knew that this child was on the landing of the stairs since the voice was quite close.
She continued to read.
The child continued to sing.
I couldn’t help but smile.
I was listening to the passage but my ears were tuned to the singing child.
After a few minutes, the young mom, sweetly apologized.
I’m sorry, I can’t concentrate; that is my son singing, she said.
We all heard him.
We all loved what we heard.
He is singing, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, she said.
I imagined him carrying the angel that had been fastened to the manger as he sang.
I imagined him acting out the Story he knew so well.
It was appropriate to stop reading; it was appropriate to take time to listen.
It was wonderful.
No choir could have sounded better.
It was the voice of a little boy singing the Story we all need to hear.
No matter how many times we hear it, we need to hear it again.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
(Hark The Herald Angels Sing, by Charles Wesley)
This precious little boy sang truth on the landing of my basement stairs.
His sweet voice carried upstairs and caused us to pause.
As we were reading God’s Word, we were hearing God’s truth.
Truth that is proclaimed in the carols that we sing.
Truth is heard as you walk in the stores this time of year.
Truth is heard in the background most everywhere you go.
Truth is heard on the radio station that plays twenty-four hours a day Christmas music.
Truth is heard.
A friend of mine who lives in California has been given a gift.
She has her granddaughter living with her and her husband for a season.
This precious little girl has a new baby brother that has some health issues that need attention.
While her mom and dad address those issues, this sweet little girl is with her grandparents.
My friend is loving this precious time with her granddaughter.
My friend is reading the Jesus Storybook Bible to her.
I imagine them singing and playing and just enjoying this sweet time they have been given.
My friend sent a prayer request by text to a few of us.
Medical needs of her grandson are being laid at the Father’s feet.
It was the other things she said in her text that warmed my heart.
It was a story about her granddaughter.
I read about the innocence and exuberance of a child.
I took ___ to see, The Star, two days ago…the other morning she came out and announced that “she need(ed) to see The Star with the Mary and the donkey.” So we went again, and at the very end of the movie, when the credits were playing, she loudly announced in the theater: “Grandma! It’s the Baby Jesus!” She then proceeded to DANCE her way out of the theater, out onto the street in front singing. “I is wonderful!!!” PURE JOY!
This sweet little girl is learning more and more about Jesus.
In her little mind, the Story of Jesus’ birth needs to be sung.
In her little mind, the Story of Jesus’ birth is the story of God’s love for us…for her.
This sweet little girl spoke a profound statement: I is wonderful.
She is wonderful and so are we when we know how very much God loves us.
When that truth sinks down deep in your heart, you have to sing.
You sing like the little boy on my basement stairs and the little girl in the movie theater.
It is truth that just has to bubble out.
Oh, to be like a child, especially at Christmas time.
This is the time of year where people are more receptive to hear the Story.
There are many ways to tell it, like the movie which tells it from the animal’s perspective.
The most important thing is not HOW we tell it but the WHAT we tell.
There is only one Story.
There are many ways to tell it.
The truth of the story, when planted in us, will make us want to sing.
How joyfully can we proclaim it?
I is wonderful.
God thought so.
That is why He sent His Son.
That is how much He loves us.
For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Ready to sing?
The world needs to hear.
On basement stairs or in the movie theater, the song needs to be sung; the Story needs to be told.
Are you ready?
Beautiful! And I love the reminder and excitement our ‘littles’ convey over this special birthday celebration that is upon us soon! Oh, the faith of a child is so warm and contagious!
Merry Christmas Gina and family!!
`Carolyn~
Carolyn,
You are so right!
The faith of a child is so warm and contagious.
Enjoy your precious grandchildren as you see Christmas through their eyes!
Blessed Christmas to all of you!
Gina
Wonderful reflection, Gina!! God is showing up all over, isn’t He!! And just think, this time next year you will have new eyes in which to see God!!
Ann,
God is showing up all over! We see that in the testimony and reports of how He is working in even the smallest detail. Yes, we look forward to the blessing of a grandchild. Christmas will be seen anew. Have a Blessed Christmas with your family!
Gina