O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may his His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

This is one of my favorite carols. I love the meaning behind the words, and the haunting tune of the song. I love that we can rejoice because Emmanuel – God with us, came to ransom us from our captivity to sin.

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is celebrating Advent. I love the anticipation that comes new every year as we await the coming of Jesus, God with us. I love looking at Nativity scenes and thinking about that little family. The scene above is exactly like my favorite nativity scene of my mom’s. We loved it growing up and tried desperately not to break it. This year my bible study group is doing a book called “Preparing My Heart for Advent” by Ann Marie Stewart. We started it late, not realizing that she had a lesson for every day in November as well as December. Now we are doing each November day with the corresponding December day. I love it and am getting so much out of it. She speaks to my heart, and the study has really helped me to focus on Jesus and not get Christmas stressed. The study has taken us all over the new and old testaments, looking into the people of the Messianic family tree. I love the Christmas story as told by Matthew and Luke, but getting the bigger picture has been amazing. Here is my favorite quote from the study so far: