Lesson 25: A Reminder About the Birth of Jesus

For the 25th blog post in December, I have no choice but to post a story in Jesus' honor. I've been listening to the above song constantly this season.  It is sure to be one of your favorites, too. 

As the writer of this blog, I wear many hats.  I am one part comedienne, one part motivational speaker, one part big sister to the world, and one part disc jockey.  If you recognize the name, Chris Tomlin, he is one of my favorite Christian Music artists. I posted his version of Amazing Grace on one of my earlier blogs.   I was not familiar with the featured singer, Audrey Assad, until this year, and she is equally as enchanting.

I stumbled on this song from some digging I was doing on itunes, thanks to a post on facebook by my nephew Chris LaFuria.  He called out to everyone, asking for their suggested favorite Christmas tunes.  He, at the time of the post, was listening to The Crooners Christmas and highly recommended it.  I was looking for song suggestions for him when I came across this one.  This goes to show you that all one needs is a little motivation and you too, can stumble upon something new and great.

My husband, being the baby of his family by a decade more or less, came with nine nieces and nephews as part of his package deal sixteen years ago.  Ben, the oldest is exactly 20 years to the day older than Ellen.  I worked hard to make that happen for the family, by the way.  I missed a wedding of a cousin on my side just to go into St. Vincent's Hospital to push her out at 11:10 pm.  Jon, the youngest up from Natalie is sixteen.  The rest range in age in between them.  They are a source of constant fun, and they keep me up to date on the most current tunes.  All of them love music and are frequent concert goers.  Ben, Chris, and Dan all taught themselves how to play musical instruments, which as a teacher of gifted students, I recognize as quite a gift.  Dan has a really quirky-cool record collection that I love to discuss with him.  Chris constantly comments about music on facebook.  When we are together as a group, often the guitars come out and impromptu sing-alongs erupt, making lasting memories for everyone.

Thanksgiving night after all the digestion is over with, they gather in our basement for our annual card game.  There is lots of noise, typical of the LaFuria's, but mostly laughter.  When I was upstairs giving Sam a bath, I could feel the shouts and the laughter reverberating up through the floor boards.  Some of us even got to talk to Matt that day through the Skype camera, as he is serving in Iraq through the holidays this year. 

Louie and his brother and two sisters are very close.  It seems like the next generation will be following along the same path---staying in touch, singing, laughing, sometimes fighting, but always forgiving.  This is what keeps a family a family.  So Ben, Kim, Cora, Matt, Chris, Dan, Rosalee, Pat, and Jon--thanks for the inspiration.  You all will serve as fine role models for your youngest round of cousins, Natalie, Ellen, and Sam.  You remind us that families are not perfect, but they are sacred.

Since we are all part of God's family and really all brothers and sisters in our human nation, please listen carefully to the words to this song.  It is true that God could have sent our savior in any manner as he has the power to do so.  But instead of a mighty wave with the strength of a hurricane, God sent us a baby.  One soft like a winter snow; quiet, soft, and slow, falling from the sky to the earth below.  Take time to stop and remember this during the flurry of activities in the next few weeks.  And if we do get the predicted winter storms here in Erie this weekend, step outside and look at the falling flakes from heaven and remember how Jesus came to us--soft and slow like the winter snow, and breathe in the air of the sacred night.

Amen,
Eloise