Merry Christmas to you!

Hey everybody!  I'm having a very merry Christmas, and I hope you are too!  :D

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going with my family to the late-night Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley.  On the way into the church, everyone gets a candle.  At the end of the service, the lights go dim, as we all sing "Silent Night"...and beginning in the front with the Christmas Candle in the advent wreath, the candles are gradually lit.  Once your candle is burning, you turn to the people behind you and pass the light on.  At first the church is dark, but gradually grows brighter and brighter as the light spreads through the crowd.

I love the symbolism.  Christ came to bring light into the world.  As Isaiah said, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light."  We do walk in darkness, wherever we walk without Him.  He is our life.  Our one true source of joy.  He loved us to the death...and in his death we receive life.  He gave everything for us...all because he loved us so dearly that he was willing to do whatever it took to win us back to himself.

And he continues to do whatever it takes to win us to him...to heal our hearts, piece by piece, and restore them so we can live our lives in the fullness that he wants for us.  He comes every day, every week, in the experiences we walk through, to rescue us from those broken places, and call us to come closer to himself.

Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor,

All for love's sake becamest man.

Throne for a manger didst surrender,

Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor;

Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor,

All for love's sake becamest man.

Merry Christmas to all of you -- and may you know HIS love for you today, this season, in deeper ways than ever before.


- Kelsey

Discovering beauty...

Kelsey Schweickert  |  San Francisco Bay Area wedding photographer
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