And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

Isaiah 11:6-9

The world shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 

This  morning as Henry and I were getting ready to go to daycare he brought several of his cars to me. He handed them to me and said "I want to take these". I told them that he needed to leave them at home because he wouldn't want to lose any of them. He said to me very matter of fact "No, I share with my friends". I looked at him a little perplexed and said "You are going to share your cars with your friends?" "Yes, one for Asher, one for Isaac, one for Brooke and one for Noah. They take their cars home. Merry Christmas". I almost cried. My precious yet quite possessive child was going to give to his most treasured toys to his friends for Christmas. We went on to daycare and believe it or not, he walked in and passed out a car to each friend saying "Merry Christmas".

 Paul and I talk to Henry all the time about sharing and giving to others. However, if you even try to come between him and his matchbox cars you are looking for a fight. So where did this come from? When did my child learn that giving to others and sharing is one of the most valuable lessons of life and what Christmas is truly about?

In the book of Isaiah, he is telling of his prophecy. What he knows will happen and how it will happen. The world at this time was at war, people were not worshiping God in the way that God intended and the message that God sent was not being received in the way God had hoped. They desperately needed a Savior, someone to come and teach them the truth about God and to share the Gospel. But a child? A tiny little baby? How was a child supposed to lead them to the Kingdom of Heaven? How as a child supposed to teach them right from wrong? How was a child supposed to spread the word of God?

Jesus comes into this world a tiny baby. Born to a young mother and father that had to be scared out of their minds. I am not sure how many times an angel could tell me "Do not be afraid" for me to not be scared! I would imagine they were terrified but they truly believed the child they would parent would be the worlds' Savior. And they knew how to be his parents. How to love him, nurture him and allow him to be himself so that he may spread the Good News.

Jesus brought hope, peace, love and joy to a broken world. He shared his Gospel and through his love and sacrifice created a place for all of us to experience this even today. And this did not start when he was a young man, it started the moment he came into this world; as a tiny baby, a little soul that would lead the world to peace.

"A little child shall lead them"

This morning, Henry reminded me of the importance of Christmas. I saw the joy, hope, peace and love in his tiny little face. My child, MY CHILD, was leading me this morning to a place of hope. That even when the world seems out on control, our lives seem to be in utter chaos and we can't quite figure out how to get it all together; our children remind of us that it is all possible. That we can be people of God; people that give to one another, people that spread the Good News and people that believe in Christmas.

God bless all the tiny children in this world and allow us to open our hearts and minds so that they may lead us to a place of hope, peace, love and joy.

Merry Christmas.

The Magic of Christmas

This is the first year that Henry seems to kind of understand what Christmas is. It has been so much fun watching him run out of his room every morning to find the elf, staring at the tree and yelling "Christmas" and talking with him about what it all actually means. I see the light and joy in his eyes and I remember the feeling I had when I was a kid at Christmas. 

I have started to wonder where that magic goes. Why as adults do we focus so much on the material side of the holiday and not the spiritual? Why do we allow ourselves to be come so over focused on our jobs and shopping that we lose the significance of the season? And when does this happen? 

I can remember being in 8th grade and writing an article for the school paper about just believing in Santa Claus. I didn't believe anymore but I was still longing for the magic of Christmas I had as a young child. I wrote about believing even when we don't believe anymore and the joy that comes every year. At some point I even lost that. I find myself searching for it every year and seeing the joy in my own child's eyes is what brings me closer. 

Christmas is the time of year that we celebrate the birth of Jesus. If you go through the Bible and read the history you can note that the world was falling a part. God tried over and over again to show his people the way to live their lives by faith. The people continue to get it wrong and God continues to try again. Eventually God came down in the form of his only son, Jesus. The birth of Jesus is a symbol of hope, promise and peace for our world. We celebrate it everywhere by the giving and receiving of gifts to the ones we love.  

As a society we put so much emphasis on the material side. We spend hours shopping, researching and searching for the "perfect" gift, only to give it on Christmas Day and often times see the lack of excitement on our loved ones' face. We experience disappointment,stress and anxiety over it all. And for what? Is that really how we celebrate Jesus' birth?

I told Paul that Christmas was going to be different for me this year, that I was going to make an effort to be more focused on the religious side than the present side. (Don't worry family, you are all getting presents!) I have started asking Henry why we get presents on Christmas. He finally started saying back to me "It's Jesus' birthday! We get presents!" We talk about the Christmas story almost daily and I remind him that the elf is there to tell Santa that he is such a nice guy, full of kindness and joy. I tell him that he is the hope I see in the world. That the reason why I celebrate Christmas is not because of presents, it is because of him and the promise that a child brings. 

Our world is falling a part right now. We are in desperate need of hope, peace love and joy. I encourage everyone this Christmas season to seek that out. Go find the thing that brings you closer to God and stronger in your faith journey. Go find the thing that brings you hope, peace, love and joy.