my name.

I have a favorite Christmas song. Well. I have many favorites. But in particular I have one that I could say is a favorite of the favorites. This is remarkable for me because I don't claim to possess the decisive qualities which are essential in picking favorites. But alas, I have come to a decision.

It's called Joseph's Lullaby. And boy, let me tell ya, this song gets me. Every. Single. Time. But recently I've discovered and even greater love for this song. Let me explain.

A few weeks ago Ryan's sister had a little, tiny baby boy. I love babies at Christmas time. I love babies all the time, really, but Christmas time is such a wonderful time for a baby to be born, I think. Shortly after our nephew was born we were spending some time with him. I was holding him watching his every little move. So dependent on his parents. But so full of life and hope of things to come. And in those moments I found myself so swept away that Jesus was a baby. A wiggly little squishy baby. And Mary held him so close. Looked into his sweet face and knew the hope of every nation was wrapped up in her son. Can you imagine?? Gah. Just blows me away.

I guess what gets me about babies and Christmas is that it's such an incredible reminder of how human Jesus was. That He came as a baby, dependent on his parents for life and grew into a man that changed the world. I'm so thankful for that tiny baby - Emmanuel. God, with us

But back to the song. We were driving home from that time spent with Tobin (my nephew) and I was thinking about this song and how much more I was loving it after spending time with him. So we just went ahead and listened to it. And at the end there's a line that says, "Oh, my Jesus, sleep tight". Generally, when Jesus' name is used in songs it's more of a proclamation. A cry out to him, you know? But it just got me in this song that it wasn't a praise to a distant man. It was a father speaking his son's name as he held his brand new baby. Oh, my Jesus, sleep tight. There's just nothing more powerful than your name whispered from the mouth of someone that loves you. And I mean really loves you. You know in that moment that you're worth something. That out of a crowd someone picks you out.

The best part is that hearing Joseph, Jesus' father, speak his son's name is really beautiful. But it's also a really, really beautiful example of how The Father speaks our names. And loves us even deeper than a mother and father.

It's been a year full of unexpected circumstances. And saying I'm thankful doesn't even come close to being adequate, but I'm so thankful the God of hope knows my name.

Merry, merry Christmas to each of you.

Check that song out here.