As I hang our stockings with care,
I ponder life with a blank stare
Busy with thoughts and worries,
Always feeling in a hurry.
Some of us fill our minds with what-ifs,
Not just discovering rare perfect gifts
But wondering if the worst will come to be
Waiting for peace gifted under our tree.
Some of us fill our days with tasks,
Believing all our doing masks
The emptiness we feel,
Wondering if the gift of hope is real.
Some of us fill our thoughts with green-eyed intent
Wanting more and yet always discontent
Success becomes what we crave again and again
Wishing joy’s gift wasn’t forever detained.
As I pause to ask, “What good is this time of year?
Is it only to highlight our failures and fears?
Can the birth of this Child,
The one called meek and mild,
Offer something more?
Is there something I haven’t considered before?”
God sent His only Son as an infant,
That alone makes this story different.
He didn’t arrive as a mighty warrior
Defeating Israel’s enemies.
He didn’t come as a political powerhouse
Deafening high society’s murmurings.
He didn’t emerge as a wise philosopher,
Debating all the questions of the intelligentsia.
Instead, He had a beginning akin to ours.
He grew from a single cell,
Demonstrating a different kind of power.
He grew as a boy to dwell
Among His own people until the hour
He would sacrifice Himself for mankind,
Exactly as His Father had designed.
From infancy to manhood,
He lived as we lived,
Struggled as we struggled.
He saw how hope diminished, joy deflated, and contentment disappeared.
But unlike us, joy flourished in His soul.
He knew that He alone could make us whole.
The Sinless One from above,
Defined the true meaning of love
He lived the same struggles we face,
Died to offer forgiveness and grace
And rose again to defeat our sin
Granting us the gift of peace within
That’s why this time of year,
Brings to life such great cheer.
He heals our weary souls
With joy to make us whole.
“What good is this time of year?
It does more than highlight our failures and fears.
The One called meek and mild
Offers man a chance to be reconciled.
His birth offers us more.
That’s what I didn’t consider before.
His arrival was just the start
Of how He would heal our hopeless hearts.
For this Child brought what God decreed
Salvation for sinners—man’s greatest need.
Hope arrived for all the earth
With the coming of our Savior’s birth.
