A Weary World Rejoices

My Dad loves watching the news. It's his thing! But lately watching the news has been more than a little depressing. At least I find it difficult to listen to it for long periods of time especially the financial news. Just this week we heard a story about a man in New York, working in the area of finances who committed suicide because of a loss of a billion dollars. It's heartbreaking to think that some have lost all hope to the point that they've given up on life.

Tonight I went to the Christmas Eve service at my brother's church. We were in the middle of singing "O Holy Night" and the words just hit me...

the weary world

We are weary aren't we? Weary of things that don't satisfy. Weary of broken down relationships. Weary of trying to mend them. Weary of waking up to face our troubles again. Weary of hurt and bitterness and anger. Weary from all the effects of sin.

the weary world rejoices

Why does the weary world rejoice? Because God looked down on this world full of weary sinners and had compassion on us. He loved us and He sent Jesus to lift the burden of sin from our backs, to restore hope and give us a reason to live and a reason to rejoice.

"Thank You" doesn't seem adequate enough for this gift of hope we've been given. God, you are so worthy of our praise! Reach down into our weary lives and restore hope this Christmas. We need you.




This is one of my favorite versions of "Oh Holy Night".

Wacky Weather

The weather's been a little strange the last 24 hours. Last night I went to bed and the world around was covered in white but clearly starting to melt. Sometime in the night it must have begun raining. By the time I woke up all the snow was gone. I was actually kind of sad. However, within about 4 hours the world around was covered in a blanket of snow again. Unfortunately, the blanket of snow covered some crazy patches of ice. Glad I didn't have to go anywhere today! Had a little fun writing in the fresh snow! I love the dusting of snow covering the branches.

There is truly something so peaceful and quiet about a world covered in a fresh blanket of snow!