Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.”
John 1: 10 (NIV)
So, how was the day for you?
Memorable, satisfying, exciting, perhaps even the best ever?
Warm, cozy and welcoming? Friendly conversations and reflections with family and friends gathered all around?
Perhaps to some degree you even experienced a slight sense of emptiness for those who were no longer there, or couldn’t be there. Maybe there was a twinge of anxiety about the uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring.
So, how was the day for you?
“This is my best Thanksgiving ever!” were the words our granddaughter Hannah used to describe her sixth Thanksgiving Day, many years ago now. A day forever stored in her growing albums full of memories.
As excited as I know she was to be with her Mimi and Granddaddy, Mommy & Daddy and her three month old baby sister, I suspect the fact that we awoke in the mountains of North Carolina on Thanksgiving morning to a blanket of snow all around had something to do with her excitement for the day.
It was her first snow, and now, it was her best Thanksgiving ever. I may be selling her a bit short here, buy I’m not certain that she fully recognized the other aspects lending to the significance of the day to others, who traveled so far to gather together with so many family and friends in gratitude for the blessings of their lives.
And yet I was sure that she would recognize the significance of what was coming next. I believed that, despite the commercial spin which begins to occur on the day following that pause for appreciation in our lives, and which continues as we pass from that moment of reflection and thanksgiving into the Advent season. I was hopeful that my precious granddaughter would recognize more clearly the significance of the season we were then fast approaching.
That is, beyond her personally handwritten and decorated wish list for Santa Claus, which included a request for one each of a peach, pink and green Care Bear, twistable Hello (“hallo” to her) Kitty drawing crayons, and another baby doll, she was beginning to look again for the tiny Baby in a manger. Because she was hearing again Christmas carols with words like “Oh, come let us adore Him…” and “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed…”
She knew that God loved her. She knew every day, even in an occasional lonely or disappointing moment, how special she is, and how special she is to Him. Yet the season of the Baby seemed to remind her even more, and help her recognize afresh and anew in all the rest of the days of her life that it’s all true, and He really is always here for her.
Is that how it will be for us?
I wonder, in the days ahead, if we will recognize the moment fast approaching. I wonder, in the crush of shopping, social activities, cards and presents, if we will recognize Him.
Actually if we look closely into all the busyness of the days ahead, we will notice that people do tend to be friendlier, more generous and gracious to each other. Perhaps they recognize the moment. Perhaps they even recognize Him.
Despite the burdens they must be carrying, the disappointments and heartaches that have marked too many moments of their lives, and the ever-present concerns for their future which at times seem to be out of their control, perhaps, just perhaps, they will recognize the tiny Baby in a manger.
And perhaps they will recognize how special they are to Him. I wonder.
So, how will that day which is fast approaching, be for you?
Best day ever?
Recognize the moment. Recognize Him.
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2016. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
