The First Day of Christmas

It's been a great day, brimming with a myriad of minor notables. Here are the highlights:                        

• Hannah's quiet excitement over finally receiving a backpack of her own.
• Lucy's not-so-quiet excitement that I finally got the super hero capes finished (thanks for your help, Mom!)
• The crazy-loud, aleatoric scream-o version of Go, Tell It On the Mountain that my children sang in the car on the way to church this morning. 
• Sitting in the balcony for the glorious final verse of Silent Night, sung a cappella, a full church of folks praising Almighty God, with two or three brave souls adding their descants into the mix. Absolutely breathtaking. 
• A house full of people that I love.
• This picture of my little super hero:
  
• My nephew and my daughter snuggled up with my brother-in-law, watching Snow White.
• Dining seat assignments scrawled on torn up sheets of binder paper, artfully arranged on fine china.

I could go on, and the truth is, these tiny things probably don't mean anything unless you were there. They are very minor miracles, but they are a still, small reminder that if we are paying attention, we can catch glimpses of the faithfulness of God. Every single day, He shows Himself trustworthy. We spend Advent in anticipation of things to come, but we are still in advent. As God's kids, we are still leaning into this time of waiting, trying to catch glimpses of the way things will be when the fullness of time comes about, and we are waiting no longer. To me, this Christmas has an air of eagerness about it, as if all Creation is whispering, "Just wait. The best is still on its way." In that way, I look forward; forward to tomorrow, when the seemingly endless march of Christmas parties continues; forward to the new year and the promise it holds; forward to the end, when I will see my Savior face to face. You see, this is merely the first day of Christmas - the best is still on its way.

Silent night! Holy night!

Son of God, love's pure light 

shines anew from Thy heavenly face,

greets the hour of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth,

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

The hour of redeeming grace came two thousand years ago, and it comes again today, and it will come again every day until the end of time. The best is still on its way. God is faithful. Always.