Wishing You a Blessed Christmas

Hello faithful family, friends, and followers, Merry Christmas from the Hanson’s. We thank you for taking time at such a busy season of year to hear from us. As soon as I publish this post we will be leaving for a visit to Joy’s mom in NE Iowa, celebrating Christmas with her a few days early. For our family, Alyx, Ethan and Nova are hosting us and Marc’s family for Christmas Eve in their new home. We were also blessed this past week with the chance to gather at our place with our life long friends, those who flew down to be with us the day after the accident, for a wonderful time together. We are so very thankful for this year of transition and slow but measurable further recovery for Joy. I’ll offer more of a reflection on the year next week, but needless to say, once again we are able to enjoy a holiday we thought we may never share again in those first days and weeks after the accident.

One of Joy’s tremendous gains this year, will be accomplishing reading the entire Bible from start to finish. I looked back and even up to the beginning of December last year she we just reading at about a 4th or 5th grade level, so to have stayed faithful in her pursuit to read the entire Bible is a tribute to her and her love for God’s word. As if on queue, included in our reading this week were the words of the prophet Micah announcing Bethlehem as the place of the Messiah’s birth:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting…

And He shall stand and feed His flock

In the strength of the LORD,

In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;

And they shall abide,

For now He shall be great

To the ends of the earth;

And this One shall be peace. Mic 5:2,4

While there are many deep theological and doctrinal themes regarding the Incarnation of God in Christ, I appreciate Henri Nouwen’s simple take on this miraculously complex event when he writes:

God came to us because he wanted to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving toward the house of peace and joy. This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us. The challenge is to let God be who he wants to be. A part of us clings to our aloneness and does not allow God to touch us where we are most in pain. Often we hide from him precisely those places in ourselves where we feel guilty, ashamed, confused, and lost. Thus we do not give him a chance to be with us where we feel most alone. Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let him—whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend—be our companion.

Henri Nouwen

I read through the Bible each year having used several different translations of the One-Year-Bible. One of the things I appreciate about the format is reading from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs each day. But by far my favorite reading time is toward the end of the year seeing many of the prophesies of the Old Testament come to life in the book of Revelation. Here at Christmas we are celebrating Christ’s entrance into our human story. His beyond humble entrance into the world in a smelly stable laying on a bed of hay in a manger. So at the same time of reading Micah’s announcement of Bethlehem as Jesus starting point, this same week the book of Revelation pulled back the curtain on the rousing and glorious climax to this God/Man child’s life as we read:

Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

They sing a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God

saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;

you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,

and they will reign on earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,

singing with full voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might

forever and ever!” Rev 5:6-13

That passage always brings me to tears, tears of joy in looking forward with hope to that future day.

And so again, from our house to yours, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and we pray that you, our much appreciated blog readers, will be blessed in a special way this Christmas as we celebrate together the birth of Immanuel, God with us! 🙏🏻🎄