Labor of Love

Today is my last day at work before a much-anticipated week off with my family at home. My mind is full of questions these days. Not about Christ so much as what it means for me and my family to live for him. I have been praying for Peace on Earth to be known and felt in my home, and am looking forward to Advent - the coming of our Lord.

So may you put down your smoking Visa. Step out of line at the mall. Speak kindly to family that you don't see very often. And trust that Emmanuel - God with us - has come. You are loved.

I am going to take a break for a few days from posting, and wanted to leave you with the words to an Andrew Peterson song that has moved me this week. It's from his musical "Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tale of the Coming of Christ." Peace be with you, and Merry Christmas!

Labor of Love
from "Behold the Lamb of God"
Words and music by Andrew Peterson

It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love

©2004 Andrew Peterson