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The Carpenters' Christmas album is playing in the background. The smell of Christmas Wreath from Yankee Candle is permeating the bus. I am finishing up a Christmas tour with Todd Agnew and Rush of Fools and will soon be on my way to carrying out age old traditions and making new memories with family this Christmas. I love this time of year and how it brings us close to those we love. To be honest, I love everything about this time of year--the music, the lights, the smells, the food, the hustle and bustle, the feeling of Christmas. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Christmas and all it brings. But sentiment aside, if I'm honest with myself, none of these things are meaningful or lasting. In fact, in just a few short days we'll all take down the tree and put away the decorations until next year. I remember as a kid driving home from my Nana's house Christmas night and having such a sad, empty feeling in my gut. Christmas was over and wouldn't come again for 364 days. Little did I understand then that Christmas lived on in my heart, even after the presents had been unwrapped and the family had gone their separate ways. Little did I know then that the coming of a baby boy that first Christmas changed the course of human history and brought hope to a world that was otherwise hopeless. This God-child was sent to rescue mankind, and He did it in the most humble and unassuming way: as a baby. And not a baby born to a king and queen in a palace, but a baby born to a young virgin girl and her carpenter husband in a barn, simply to show that He had come for all people, rich and poor alike. He is the Savior of the whole world indeed.

So as we gather around our trees and tables this year, my prayer is that our time with loved ones would be sweet, our giving would be uninhibited, and our hearts would be ever grateful. Most of all, as the foundation for all these things, I pray that we would experience the joy and peace and hope that came that first Christmas, understanding this sacrificial Love a little more fully and worshiping, unreservedly, the Christ child. Merry Christmas, my friends.