Last night I spent the evening with Izzy at a live presentation of the Nativity. She had been invited to play her violin before each performance, there by the stable with two tiny goats who kept eating the manger.
She played beautifully, in rich and resonant tones, the carols celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
It filled me with wonder to consider the events of that night so long ago.
And to think of this world today...how much better it is when we follow the teachings of Jesus.
I wonder what it would be like to be around him? I often discuss this with my girls.
How would Jesus make you feel?
We've come up with answers such as: loved, happy, safe, better, understood.
I imagine loved would be the overwhelming feeling. I think Jesus would see you clearly, he would see everything, but your flaws would be eclipsed by the beauty he could see because of his infinite, unconditional love for you.
Have you ever noticed how loving someone transforms them in your eyes?
I imagine you would feel it. You would feel his love in and around you, filling you, drawing you in, helping you reach for and believe in the great possibility he sees in you.
Anyway...no tall order, but I tell my girls this is how I hope they'll make others feel, too.
In our home, sometimes it's a hit. Sometimes it's a miss.
Nothing makes me happier than when it's a hit.
Dear reader, we are all works in progress and I worry if you were to cross paths with me on any given day you might wonder why I look so distracted (it's because I forgot a carpool, nine times out of ten), but my intent is to emulate the love Jesus so freely gave.
I hope, in some small way, if you are ever around me you will leave feeling better about yourself, feeling some greater sense of possibility than perhaps you did before, feeling loved.
Of the many gifts Jesus gave by his life and example, this one, this ability to see the best in people because you love them, means everything to me.