So quiet and calm, I just stopped to look up before I closed the van door and couldn't even imagine...
As warm breath turned to clouds of cold vapor, I couldn't help but wonder at the contrast...
He left.
Bound by nothing, surrounded by the glory and peace of heaven, He left.
He left the freedom of Heaven to come near to the crush and chaos and filth of humanity.
Madison House became a home for Christmas this past Monday with a number nearing 2000 mamas and daddies and little ones coming through...
I stood in the stairway with my own four little ones packed in tight and sharing tired smiles.
I sat down in the basement to watch nervous actors, so thankful that smiles speak clearer than my broken Spanish ever could. Thankful for the mamas who smile through broken English and press in close because sometimes that's what mamas do. Sometimes that's all we can do, press in close to each other and press in close to Jesus,
because that's what He did.
He left the expanse of Heaven for the crush of earth and for the pursuit of us and I've learned this:
Christ entering in to our mess is beautiful.
He alone makes our mess beautiful.
Jesus stepping onto earth's crust does two things -
it makes me long for the peace of Heaven,
and it opens my eyes to beauty in the ugliness of earth.
It lets me rest in the in between spaces.
I placed tiny paper Jesus into the tiny paper manger before I turned out the lights late last night,
I surrounded Him with the wise men and Mary and that tired old donkey that got her there.
And in the quiet I felt the tension slip away,
there is peace in the in between spaces,
all because He came.
All because He came for love...
