Lights

It's hard to believe that today is December 1st already. Time flies by so fast anymore. I've said it before, but time goes faster each year we grow older. Just about the time we learn to appreciate little moments and memories and the time we're spending, time goes by too fast to even remember. There have been several years of my life that have just literally disappeared. They're years that I can't remember because I was so busy doing things that I forgot to appreciate or soak up one single solitary moment in it all. But this year...ooh, this is starting to sound a lot like my traditional annual year-in-review post...which I'm not fully prepared to write as of today, so I'll get back to the point that I initially wanted to make.

It's December. Lights are going up on houses all over town (including mine). Trees are going up in front windows covered in sparkle, lights, and ornaments (including mine). And although it seems that winter is not yet officially upon us with the extreme lack of snow on the ground or even flurrying in the air, the excitement and anticipation of the coming of Christmas surely has been building anyway.

The lights on my house glisten bright in the dark, long nights of the winter season. But to me, they represent so much more than just a little extra light to brighten the dark neighborhood. On the night Jesus was born, a bright star led the way of the shepherds and kings that were called to the tiny barn that He was born in. Angels sang in the sky to the shepherds in their dark fields, no doubt lighting up the sky in a display that must have been simply unimaginable. The first Christmas night was filled with light as the Light of the World came to us. The lights on my rooftop, on my tree, and throughout my house are certainly nothing close to what the light of that night must have been, but they are, nonetheless, a reminder of exactly why we celebrate Christmas to begin with - the Light of the World.

So, until Christmas night, I wait in quiet anticipation for the night that represents the glorious night that Jesus came to us in the only form He could have in order to save us, a tiny, helpless baby. A baby, but still God. And although I probably won't see angels singing inspired songs in the sky or a brilliant star high in the sky, my heart is still guided, just as the shepherds' and kings' hearts were guided, directly to the Light of the World.