Twas the Eve Before the Day

O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
O night, O Holy night, O night divine!

This Christmas Carol was written nearly two hundred years ago, in 1847. The writer of the words wasn’t a Christian–or at least not a church attender, but the words are an inspiration even today. I was struck by the words, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining”.

It feels to me as though our whole world is pining for truth and justice and an end to strife. We’re not there yet, and won’t be until Jesus comes again. In the meantime, this Christmas season brings us hope and a glimpse of what’s to come.

Legend has it during the Franco-Prussian war in 1871, that a French soldier jumped from the muddy trench on Christmas Eve and sang this song. Immediately after he finished the song, a German soldier jumped up and sang a “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come written by Martin Luther:

To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen mother mild;
This little child of lowly birth
Shall be the joy of all the Earth.

For twenty-four hours, fighting stopped between the two enemies.

We know now, looking back, that fighting never stops for long. Yet, we can have peace with God in spite of wars and rumors of war. Another verse from Luther’s song says this:

Ah! dearest Jesus, holy child,
Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for thee.

There can be peace with God through belief in the perfect God/man who came two thousand years ago. He promises that by being the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins. I love the hope in these words:

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. ¹⁸ So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:15-18 HCSB).

When Jim and I met eleven years ago, we knew we were right for each other practically on our first date. And today, on the eve of our eleventh wedding anniversary, we still feel the same way. We were right for each other at this time in our lives. We have been fortunate to experience peaceful days. Travels around the world. Joy in serving together at church and in our neighborhood.

Right now, we are in the throes of pain and infection. But it is a common thing to humankind. We have illness. Pain. But one day, we will enjoy eternity where there will be no more pain, or illness or death.

We have hope in that things will get better for Jim. His infection numbers are going down, but we wait. His pain is a little better–but there are movements that cause the pain to soar. Yet we hope.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate eleven years of marriage. It has been so good and I’d like to share some of the joy we experienced those eleven years ago. The best part is, we still enjoy each other and in these more troubled times, we share our memories of the joy that day and in these days as well.

God is good and brings JOY!

Front of our wedding program. Engagement photo.

Thank you for your prayers. We feel the peace and comfort they bring. And we have hope. For the future days here on earth, but for sure, our eternal life in heaven with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I’ll close with the song that was voted in 2022, the nation’s most favorite carol.

Below, enjoy the song. If you can, watch the movie, The Nativity Story, some of the scenes below are from that movie.

Thank you for your prayers and concern. We appreciate you. Celebrate with us, the joy of the celebration of another anniversary, and more for the joy of Christ’s birth.

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