The Only Light That Matters

We put up mom and dad's tree. Do I not say "mom's" anymore? This is so mom's home. Every inch of it. We all feel it. Without her here, it's not the same. We decorate the tree. The kids come to help. Funny how here, they willingly participate, while at home it's a battle. We finish with the angel; a little crooked. We need a ladder; but it's time to quit for the night. Everyone leaves and I put the kids to bed. I stand in front of the tree. The lights twinkling,

illuminating the darkness.

 I remember years gone by. When I was young, our tree was always so beautiful. It was a delight for the senses. Gold garland and tinsel shimmered, reflecting the colored lights.  The smell of pine permeated the air even before you reached the living room. And there was a distinctive swish as you walked in, almost as if the room was alive. (There was also static, which you learned at a young age to never touch that beautiful looking tree) I would sit in front of those trees year after year, with the colored lights blinking; praying and dreaming about what my future would hold. I would marvel at the wonder of a Savior, becoming light so that I might live.

It's time for us to head back home. Back to my home. To what is familiar. But all that is familiar has changed. Everywhere I go; it's different. I am different. I am a mama whose life feels just a margin off track. I am a mama desperately trying with all of my being to cling to the Ancient Promises; the promise of hope.  I am a mama who woke in the dark to flashing lights and a life torn from me. The darkness of that night has not left me yet. I still close my eyes and feel the searing pain and disbelief as the officer shared there had been an accident; then the realization that the lack of light was because one so young had taken his last ride. Yet even in the darkness, the ray of one small light is enough to illuminate a well worn path. Isn't the familiar, the well worn path to the cross each day? The beat of each step surrendered to him?

We have light in the barn; on one side. Light, even artificial, helps the cows with milk production, helps everyone to be able to see clearly in the barn. (Could get dangerous in there) Cedric says even with just one side it is so bright. Light has a way of doing that. Casting its rays far beyond our understanding. It is a reminder that during this Season of Advent, 

Christ came to be light in the darkness. 

John 8:12

"I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life."

I know no other way through this journey, than grafted into that light. 

It is to continue to follow the well worn path illuminated by the only light that really and truly matters. 

It is with hope and expectancy that we keep our minds focused on that light. 

1 John 1:7

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, 

we have fellowship with one another, 

and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Jesus Light of the world, shine through the darkness

Bright as the day