This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the decorations, the cheer, the kindness, the wonder and above all, I love the meaning.
Today, in my browsing, I found an old friend. It is a musical friend. I actually heard this song for the first time several years ago when my ward choir sang it, and it has become one of my favorites.
It reminds me of why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. It also reminds me that I need to make time for the Savior in my busy life. It is very much like that famous picture of the Savior standing at the door and knocking. There is no door handle on the door, and the only way that He can come in is if we open the door ourselves and invite Him inside.
I think that - that can be the hardest thing of all to do.
Perhaps it is too easy to be busy. It is too easy to become involved in all the hustle and bustle around us. We can get so caught up in the life that we are living, that we forget the purpose of being here and we forget to invite the Savior inside our hearts.
It is not that I am doing bad things. It is not as simple as that. All the things that I am trying to do every day are usually good things. But, I can get so overwhelmed with doing good things, that I don't make time for the most important thing of all. That is having the Savior in my life. I am sure that Satan rejoices when we become overwhelmed with doing good things. Sometimes we have to choose between good things and the best things. We have to choose to come to the stable if we want to see the baby in the manger.
May we each reflect upon what we are doing and make room in our lives for the child in the hay.
No Room, No Room
by Sally DeFord
(www.defordmusic.com)
No room in the inn to await the coming morn
No room in the inn for a baby to be born
Little comfort at his birth for the King of all the earth
No room; no room.
No room in the inn for this stranger from afar
No room in the inn -- no the doors are locked and barred
Not a chamber, rich or poor, nor a place upon the floor
No room, no room
Such has his welcome been
Chorus:
Make room, oh my heart, turn thou not thy Lord away
Make room, oh my heart, bid him welcome -- bid him stay
Prepare him all thy best
Keep him evermore thy guest
No room, Lord, for thee?
No room? Stay with me!
The finest my soul can afford
Shall be all thine own, dearest Lord
No room 'mid the toils or the pleasures of our day
No room in our lives for a baby on the hay
Not a moment to abide, kneeling at the manger-side
No room, no room
No room 'mid the cares of the heedless sons of men
No room in our world for the Child of Bethlehem
Not an hour in our haste left unfilled to give him place
No room, no room
Such has his welcome been
---
~ Patty Ann