“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people”

Luke 2:10

Today we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, born so long ago, yet reborn in our hearts each Christmas. This is what makes Christmas a truly joyful and magical time.

Despite the tinsel, hurrying, parties and shopping and even moments of disappointment, loneliness, or sadness, there can be sweet moments this season when we can be assured that Jesus is alive today and his light is shining for each one of us.

For me this has happened in a variety of ways over the years: singing Silent Night in a New York country church while watching the first snowfall, watching the sun rise up over the mountains before anyone else was awake, spending Christmas day alone one year, but making it a day I will always fondly remember.  Every Christmas there is always something, along with an awareness that Jesus is right beside me.  All it takes are open hands and an open heart, and he will surprise us in ways that we will say, “it had to be him.”

Diana Beaudry