The glitz and glam is over.
The warm fuzzies have reset
back into a reality of cold winter weather.

There are no more lights.
No more sparkly tinsel decorations.
The days are short.
No holiday music.
And the manger is emptied
and put away for another year.

Your wallet may be slimmer.
And time with family and friends
may have been a little stressful
and not of the Hallmark Channel quality.

What do we do now?
Where do we
go from here?
A King
has been born.
And His parents
have escaped with Him
to Egypt.

They’ll eventually return to their home.
He’ll learn the ways of a carpenter.
Soon, He will stay behind in the temple
And cause His parents to worry.
The leaders will be amazed
At His understanding of the Scriptures.

“Who is this boy?” they will ask.
“Isn’t He just a carpenter’s son?”
He will teach the ways of love.
Love that is so different, so controversial,
They’ll kill him.

They do not want to hear the way of love.
They want to leave things just as they are,
Their religious practices, their hierarchy.

Leah
Director of Worship & Media