Here is what Christi wrote after listening to Jake’s First Christmas CD

WE THREE KINGS:   Step, sway. Step, sway.   She didn’t know how long they’d been travelling – at this point, it felt like years. Always following that star that got her master and his fellow scholars so excited.  Something about a King, someone to be worshiped, someone worthy enough to travel for miles to see. Well, at this point, she’d worship anyone who stopped this infernal camel from swaying. Lord Melchior’s drummer boy came up next to her, tapping out a simple rhythm on one of his many drums. He flicked his eyebrows and grinned at her, so she rolled her eyes and sang for him, her voice muffled by the veil she had over her face to keep out the dust. At least it helped to pass the time.   Step, sway

O COME O COME EMMANUEL:   Nobody told Mary about the heartbeat. If she held her hand just so on her belly, she could feel the baby’s heartbeat. Well, maybe it was her own heartbeat, but she could imagine it was the baby’s.  : Rocking on that tired old donkey’s back for miles and miles, Mary held her hand to that heartbeat. Jesus, the Messiah, Emmanuel … somehow she had never thought the God of all Creation would have a heartbeat. But now that she felt her own heart fill with love for this one child, she decided it made sense. They were all God’s children, so how big must His heart be?   Nobody told Mary about the heartbeat. She just felt it.

SILENT NIGHT:   The nights were the worst part. Very cold and very dark, they all huddled around the fire when they weren’t making sure the sheep were safe. His brother had that strange little instrument that he plucked music out of, but most of the time it was just noise rather than an actual melody. Sometimes though, his fingers found a song and they would all be drawn into it. The fire would crackle, and they’d look up to the velvet blanket of the sky and wonder at the stars. Yahweh must be infinite to create something so amazing. Maybe the nights weren’t so bad after all.

O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL:   I don’t know why the Caesar needs people to travel so he can get a sense of something. &bnsp; But I sure am happy – it means that all my mama’s family is here. Papa is a bit grumpy, because he has to let all mama’s brothers stay in our inn, but right now my mama is dancing with her sister like Miriam must have danced in the desert. The music is so loud and there is so much laughing that no one heard the knocking – except my papa. I peeked under his arm to see who it was. That lady looks so tired, and her belly is so big!   I’m glad papa is letting them stay in the stable. It’s warm there, and the animals make it cozy. I even fall asleep there sometimes when I’m hiding from my brother. Before the lady and her husband leave for the stable, I ran to give them my second-best blanket. It’s still pretty nice, and the lady looks like she could use something nice. Besides, babies need blankets.

WHAT CHILD IS THIS?:   Yahweh, you are Abba to us all. I need you now, more than ever, to show me how to be an abba to your Son. Jehovah Jirah, I am a simple man. I need you to provide the knowledge and understanding to take us through this time and the years ahead. Lord, my wife is very young, but I see such strong faith in her eyes. Help me to have the same faith. I know you will care for us – you would not send your precious Son to be lost as a babe. I don’t understand your plan sometimes. Your Son should be born in a palace, not a stable. He should be wrapped in silk, not at child’s cast-off blanket. But you did send him to be among your people, didn’t you?   Well, here we are, Jehovah. And your Son is coming this very minute.   Help your people. Help your daughter.

AWAY IN A MANGER:   It is a small stable, for a small inn. It smells warm and earthy and musty. The light from the single lamp makes the shadows dance and bathes the room in a flickering warm glow. One stall holds a quiet milk cow, her soft brown eyes blinking peacefully. One stall holds an old grey donkey, his velvety muzzle sporting more than a little white hair. One stall holds the Creator and Sustainer of the world. He is wrapped in a child’s worn blanket, frayed from being drug along the ground. He has a thick shock of black hair, like the woman holding him. She is gazing at him in wonder, her eyes shining with happy, awe-filled, exhausted tears. Her husband stands behind her with his hand on her shoulder, his eyes on the baby and a prayer on his lips. He prays, like a father, for wisdon and guidance. And he worships, like any believer who has seen and touched a Miracle. Emmanuel. God with us.

LITTLE DRUMMER BOY:   Of all the musicians at Lord Melchior’s disposal, he decided to bring that drummer boy. Always with a drum slung over his shoulder, always with his hands tapping, always with his eyebrows and grin to aggravate me. He’s been a thorn in my side from our home all the way to this far land. But every once in awhile, he gets things right. Like tonight, when the star is almost right above us, so close the light of it almost scorches our faces. He taps out a rhythm that makes my heart race, waiting, watching – so close to our destination, so close to seeing this King of the Jews who is important enough to have his own star. And his face is expectant and hungry at the same time … like he wants desperately to know who it is we’ve travelled to see, like he’s been waiting to find his King. Like He could be a drummer boy’s King as well.

THE FIRST NOEL:   Sometimes the nights are so cold that the air crackles. Sometimes it’s so cold that it sounds like bells, way up above the fields. Tonight the air was moving and ringing like I have never heard before. My oldest brother told us to watch carefully, because it felt like something was going to happen. We set extra watches over the sheep and counted the flocks more often, just to be sure. But it wasn’t an animal, or more men that we saw that night. I have never seen anything like it, and probably never will again. I know now, where the bells come from.

GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN:   As soon as I saw Him I knew. A curly-headed babe, with rosy cheeks and a toothy smile that he hid in his mama’s shoulder. Round arms and dirty hands. Sturdy legs and bare feet. The son of a carpenter and his girl-wife. But his eyes … his eyes were as dark as the night sky and just as deep. As soon as I saw those eyes I knew they were worthy of a star, worthy of so much more than a star – it was the star that needed to be worthy of those eyes. I understand now, after it all, why we had to take that journey. Why my master needed to go and see. I understand now, what the drummer boy was waiting for, what he was hoping for. And I feel now, something inside me – something at rest, that I didn’t know needed to rest.

JOY TO THE WORLD:   Have you heard?   Didn’t you see the lights?   There were angels. Angels in the sky over the fields. They told us that the Messiah wa born in Bethlehem, that he was born in a stable. A stable, can you imagine?   But we went to see, we ran to see, and it was true. It was all true, everything they told us to look for. Did I say that there were angels?   The Messiah is here!   He is here, in David’s town, in Bethelehem!   He has come to be a Saviour to His people, and He was born right among His people. Not in a palace where we could never touch Him, but right here!   Right here in an innkeeper’s stable. Why don’t you come with us?   We’re going to go tell more people. Don’t you want to come?