25 Years of Christmas Poetry

I realized that this is the twenty-fifth year I have written a Christmas poem for my mother's Christmas card. As a result of writing so many for her, I have written some for my own Christmas cards. When asked, I have also written about this season of Advent for church publications and programs. Many of those poems have been published in While Bethlehem Sleeps and While Bethlehem Sleeps: A Poetic Devotional. But, here is the truth. Most of the time, these are the hardest poems for me to write.

It is difficult to write about a specific topic and come up with something new to express it year after year. Are my words even worthy to express such a monumental time in history? God's words are so much better at telling His own story. If you have never read the story of Jesus' birth, I encourage you to read it here and here. Then, go back a little and understand through these two accounts why Jesus is who He says is. Then keep reading. Add in the full accounts from here and here. Perhaps use this Advent season to read these four books and grab on to the reasons we need all four to have even a glimpse of what Jesus accomplished in His coming here.

Over the next few weeks, I will share some of my Christmas, Advent poems from the past twenty-five years. I hope you will see them for what they are: a mere ping in the plate. Yet, I offer them as a tithe of sorts because of the grace He bestows whenever I am asked to put words to paper or screen.

Soli Deo gloria!