Hope.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Here we are, days before Christmas, and the world has that distinctly Christmas smell about it: evergreen, cinnamon, with a hint of vanilla and scotch tape. Things even sound different: jingle bells, Christmas carols, and well-wishes resonate at every turn. I look at my kids, small and impressionable enough to practically miss Christmas, if I didn't tell them what those smells and noises mean. As the days go by, I ensure they learn to appreciate the "Christmasness" of it all. Even so, I'm responsibly holding back a little- adding comments now and then about the real reason behind the holiday. They confidently respond that they already know it's His birthday. And in the moment, I assure myself that it's enough. And then it happens. 

Life happens. Sin happens. Evil enters this cinnamon scented picture with such a sucker punch, it causes all of us to take a long pause and ask "why?...what now?" This time, it was the horrific events in a kindergarten classroom. Kindergarten. Children small and impressionable enough to practically miss Christmas if no one told them what those smells and noises mean.  That's when I realize I'm missing the point. Children, no matter how small and seemingly oblivious to the darkness- need to know that despite all the lights, noises, and smells- this is much more than a birthday party. 

They need to know the richness of the hope that arrived with the birth of a baby. That this world, weary and desperate from the ever-pressing darkness, had found light. A new and glorious morning. 

Kristen Welch, at "We are THAT Family," puts it well in her post "What Christmas is Really About."

My prayers are with the families surrounded by darkness among the twinkling lights. I pray that they experience the peace that can only come from God. And I pray they find hope- the hope that exists only because God became man, and was born into this darkness to save us.