This year has been like many before … making my list and checking it twice. I’ve completed all my many tasks in preparation for Christmas. Now it’s time for cleaning and deliveries to be made. Sad to say, I’ve been dealing with these “lists” like another chore to be crossed off my list. I guess I’ve somehow lost the joy meant for Christmas. Is it my “mature years” gaining on me? I’ve been going through so many personal items to give to my kids and grandkids lately. Then a friend, just this week, sent me something very special. She knows I love music and she sent a particular song that really hit home with me.
As you know (or perhaps not know), I love music. I especially love Michael W. Smith as an artist. He released a new song that has inspired me and hit me straight to the heart. “Freeze the Frame” is probably the most powerful song I’ve heard in awhile:
All my favorite people
Gathered in one place
This cold December evening
My eyes go face to face
Drinking in the joy I feel
For all the love we share
There’s no song as sweet as family
Voices in the air
The song continues with the chorus, expressing a desire to stop time and remain in the present moment with loved ones. The lyrics describe the joy of family gathering for Christmas, including those who have grown up and now have their own children. The singer reflects on the preciousness of these moments spent around the table and the tree, finding them almost sacred. The song concludes with a repetition of the chorus and the wish to “freeze the frame” and stay in that moment forever here.
While I may not have many of my family left to enjoy holidays with, what I do have are mountains of old pictures from both sides of the family (probably 100 years’ worth). I have been promising myself and the family I’m going to “organize” them so each member has their own box of memories. I’ll be honest … I’ve been putting this monumental task off because I saw it as a chore. That is until this week. I guess you could say my perspective has changed.
Now I’m taking the time to go through each box … each photo … remembering those pictured … thanking the Lord for those He placed in my life.
Just as was said in the old hymn, “Precious Memories,” I will always have special memories to hang onto and be thankful for:
Precious mem’ries, unseen angels,
Sent from somewhere to my soul;
How they linger, ever near me,
And the sacred past unfold.
Precious mem’ries, how they linger,
How they ever flood my soul;
In the stillness of the midnight,
Precious, sacred scenes unfold.
Lord, thank you for everyone you have placed in my life and thank you for my life. Amen!
Tagged: Christmas, hymns and music
