Christmas Dawn

The last two weekends have been crazy busy.   I’m sure most of you are saying “Amen, Sister.”  My husband and I have been playing divide and conquer to tackle the activities and commitments.  So while he was off with our son on Saturday, the girls and I had some time just us.  While we were driving to Subway – lunch of choice with my girls, but always vetoed when the boys are with us; my 10 year old asked me to tell her my favorite Christmas carol.  I told her that I love Silent Night.  It’s my favorite for lots of reasons.  Today I'll share one of them. 

A couple of years ago, Todd bought me the Josh Groban Christmas CD.  Although I’ve heard and sung Silent Night, all the verses, many times, Mr. Josh sings one verse in particular in a unique way that made me hear it for the first time.   

“Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace – he sings it, “Daaahhhhhhn of grace”
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth "

So, I love that verse…….and I began to tell my unusually curious daughter about it.  I got to “dawn of redeeming grace” and couldn’t talk anymore, the beautiful pain of His life just caught in my throat and I couldn’t get any words to go past it.   After I recovered a bit, swallowed hard and wiped my eyes, we talked about dawn. 

Side note - With dawn on my mind I took these pictures this morning.  One is from my back door, the other is what our tree looks like as I round the corner to my kids' bedrooms to wake them up in the morning.

Dawn is the beginning.  In real life I’m not so much a fan (because it means getting up very early), but in the world of symbolism I’m all over it.  I love the potential and joy all wrapped up in the beginning of something.  Babies are the best at illustrating dawn and Jesus is no exception.  I told my girl about my first Christmas as a mother and how different and meaningful it was to experience that season from Mary’s perspective.  To realize what Jesus gave up to become a baby and eventually a man was powerful then and still is.  Redeeming Grace is God’s perspective and His number one goal for mankind.  To be redeemed means that I am bought back from something and grace means I didn’t deserve or earn such privilege.  Christmas is about God's hope that all people will be returned back to Him in an every day, close-up, REAL relationship. 

That’s why “dawn of redeeming grace” gets me so….I am overcome with cheek-squishing, cooing Christmas baby love only to be followed so quickly with gut-wrenching, gratitude for the grown-up, tender, self-sacrificing Easter love man He became.   And all of it makes me love Him more.  He is more than Christmas, He is life.

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

John 1:4 NIV