Last year on Christmas night I was outside in the cold, crisp air giving our dog a quick walk. We were about to open gifts with my husband’s family and my younger nieces, along with our two kids, were chomping at the bit. It had seemed like a long day. (Am I the only one where Christmas or Thanksgiving days seem to last longer than others?) We had woken up early to do our family’s Christmas traditions, quickly finished packing, jumped in the car, and drove 4 hours to get to grandparents house to start Christmas number 2 (with 2 more to go).
We had just finished eating too much a delicious meal and I needed to get out and get a fresh breath of air, and the dog needed to get out for one as well after eating all the scraps it had been given. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the moon was so bright it was almost blinding. Even though it’s brilliant light was in an oval shape, in its shadow I could see the crescent shape of the rest of the moon.
It was quiet. All was still.
I looked over to the other side of the sky because I could only look at the moon for so long because of its brilliance. It looked like a black blanket covering the sky with small twinkles of light scattered across it. All of a sudden a star quickly shoots through the sky right in front of me, but not quick enough for me not to notice. It falls behind the horizon of the mountain’s foothills and I stopped and just stood there.
A shooting star. How often had I seen a shooting star on Christmas night? Um – never. They’re not something I see every night, so they’re kind of rare to see.
I thank Jesus for that gift. Why does he keep gifting me because I know I don’t deserve any? That moment He gifted me with the reminder of a night many years ago where a star gleamed over a child that had just been born. A baby who would one day save us all. A baby who was, and still remains, to be the Light of the world.
That night years ago, shepherds saw a brilliant star, and were filled with joy (Matthew 2:10). They witnessed what a psalmist had written years earlier. This child, who grew into a man, was “dressed in a robe of light that stretched out the starry curtain of the heavens;” (Psalm 104:2 paraphrased) that night.
In my winter coat that starry night, I felt wrapped around the blazing Light of the moon and a shooting star. The anticipation of waiting for Jesus to come again lingers, year after year, but celebrating his birth is the gift from God to remind me that I have a Savior and that He is Emmanuel who is still with me and always will be.
May you feel the radiance and brilliance of the gift of God’s Son given to you this Christmas.
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