"Cowboy Christmas Time"

 Horses fed, it’s time to go,

The wind is blowin’ cold,

Sunset puts on quite a show,

Gifts wrapped in red and gold.

The Cowboy Christmas time draws near,

When family and friends,

All will come and soon be here,

Before the old year ends.

And we remember times before,

The laughter, music, too,

The hymns and carols, old dance floor,

And all the fun we knew.

Kids are running everywhere,

Dressed in colors bright,

Laughing, playing without care,

Can’t wait for Santa’s flight.

Old folks gather with their kin,

Howdy to each other,

Grandaddy settin’ down the food,

With love cooked by Grandmother.

Soon twin fiddles start to sing,

And everyone will dance,

Old Bob Wills is still the king,

And if we get the chance,

We’ll ask that gal out on the floor,

But one eye on her Dad,

And if she goes we’ll ask once more,

And if she won’t, too bad.

We’ll take a stroll down memory lane,

Remember those we’ve lost,

Thank the Lord in spite of pain,

‘Cause over home they’ve crossed.

And as the evenin’ moves along,

Old jokes and good horse stories,

We celebrate what’s right, not wrong,

And relive old past glories.

And soon the dance is almost o’er,

But we get quiet and still,

Remember what all this is for,

And hope we always will.

Grandpa will take down the Book,

And read about the night,

When angels with their glory shook,

The birth of heaven’s light.

And then with hugs and kisses,

We tell each one good bye,

We wish you Merry Christmas,

Hope we see you all next time.

A good old Cowboy Christmas,

And it’s off to home we go,

Every mister and his missus,

With the children all in tow.

Good-bye and God bless y’all,

We pray the new year brings,

The highest and the best y’all,

Of everybody’s dreams.

“…The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).” (Isaiah 7:14, NLT)

We all have many wonderful traditions surrounding the holiday season, but the entry of the divine into the world is best celebrated from the heart. From the ancient prophecies of Isaiah to all the others who saw God’s revelation down through the centuries, it is now our role to look both ways in history. We look back to what happened in fulfillment of what they said, that the virgin would conceive and the son who was born would become God with us, in unique and redemptive ways. We look forward to the day when the same Christ who was born to a virgin will return as conquering king. He is, was and always will be the One who saves.

Lord, help us celebrate Your salvation, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Jack Sorenson, used by permission. Thanks, Jack, and God bless you.