Silent Night...Holy Night???



Picture this…daughter and grandson offer to take us out to dinner (after, of course, I hinted that they should).  We’re headed to our favorite Chinese restaurant…one of few “sit down” restaurants in town.  The wind and rain are pummeling our van to the point that Dan drops me at the door of the restaurant and LeeAnne pulls up in her vehicle so that I can unload Holden without us getting soaked hopefully.  So far all is well.  We all walk into the restaurant, damp bodies but not dampened spirits.  Holden’s on his best behavior.  Mom serves him first and I sit at the table with him while Dan and LeeAnne move to the buffet to get their food.

Then all goes black!

I’m talking pitch black.  I can’t see Holden who’s seated next to me.  I can’t see my hands in front of my face.  And we’re sitting next to a window!

There are gasps around the restaurant.  I reach out to hold Holden and reassure him that everything’s okay.  LeeAnne, my wonderfully bright, intelligent and beautiful daughter (who takes after her mother) opens her cell phone, offering light in the darkness.  Then she pulls up an “app” for a flashlight that literally lights up half the restaurant.  Would you believe they had ONE tapered candle in the restaurant?  No emergency lights?  But it was okay.  We all became adventurers, eating in the dark, expecting the lights to return at any moment.  There was one small burp of light…but as we finished eating, it was still incredibly black.

We headed out and a man was limping from the restaurant.  He needed to walk to a hotel next door…but it was literally so dark that he couldn’t see the drive between the restaurant and the hotel.  We offered him a ride, but he asked if Dan could just sort of follow him and light the way…so Dan took off at a crawl and I held on to Holden while his mom fetched her car.  After she left with Holden, I was in the dark waiting for Dan.  It’s not often that we’re in that kind of darkness.  Occasionally a car would drive by, lighting things up…but mostly it was dark…very, very dark.

And I couldn’t help myself…yep…if you know me at all you know that I started…

Singing.

In the dark.  In a parking lot.  At a Chinese restaurant.

I sang through the first and second verses of “Silent Night”.  Then I sang “O Holy Night”.

Of course, there was no audience…that I know of.  There was a bingo hall and casino next door…cars in the parking lot.  Maybe someone heard.

But more than that…my Lord and Savior heard me singing in the dark.  Rejoicing at His birth.  And it was a special Christmas moment for me.

We came home to a house that stayed dark…for 10 hours!!!  Gasp.  Yes…ten hours without electricity.  Funny…I woke up to see if the lights were on yet…and the electricity came back on.  The clock had done it’s thing on battery power and actually turned on at 4:40…with the correct time.  Amazing.

Today I found myself thinking of something I’d never thought before.  I wondered if those three wise men from the East sat down and held the toddler Jesus in their laps.  I look at my littlest grandson, Roman, and all I ever want to do is hold him.  Did those wise men ask to hold the baby they believed to be the Savior of the world?  They had followed that star so far…did they ask to lay their hands on the child?  What did they feel when they looked into his eyes?  Did he babble and chatter with them?  I try to imagine how 15- or 16-year- old Mary felt watching these men of honor as they honored her Son.  It just doesn’t really compute in my mind.  I wonder if those shepherds came in from the fields and upon finding the baby reach out to touch His skin…to feel if He was real.  And how would new mom Mary feel about dirty, smelly shepherds reaching out to Him?

I love the tenderness of that first Christmas.  I realize it wasn’t really on December 25^th…but I love that the angels burst out in praise and announced His coming.  I like to think they just couldn’t contain themselves.  I love that Mary “pondered” things in her heart…and remembered them.  I’m 54 years old now and my oldest will be 27 in a couple of months…and I remember so many of the details of his birth.  Amazing to think that I’ve had my kids in my life for half of my life now.

So I got my Silent Night Holy Night from an electrical outage that lasted 10 hours.  It came on the day of the winter solstice…the longest night of the year.  And it stopped me in my tracks for a few holy minutes…time to reflect on what really matters about Christmas.  This year’s been difficult…there’s still a gaping hole in my heart.  But Christmas will come…with or without my folks here to celebrate with us…and I have some little blessings in my life who need the input of a grandmother and grandfather who will help them grow to learn about why it all happens.  I’m blessed to have those grandbabies to remind me of the baby Jesus…of the quietness of the stable…of the glory of the angels (because everyone of my babies seems to be an angel in disguise).  Jesus was a real baby…a real toddler…a real child…a real teen…and a real man.  But through every stage of His life He was God…He is God.  And I am blessed because He’s my Savior.

Merry Christmas to all…and to all a goodnight!