feliz navidad

i just realized today that last year when i was in Nepal i was always looking for beauty in the world around me - perhaps inspired by the depraved environment of poverty in which i was living. today i am living in abundance and i have a hard time seeing beauty in it. God, restore my vision, open my eyes.

i don't usually get one-on-one time with the kids but today for whatever reason the second van i took to school was just me and Jacob. it was me and Jacob in a fifteen passenger van on the snowy, narrow roads to elementary school. right after we pulled out of the parking lot "Feliz Navidad" came on the radio. i love Christmas music and this is one of my favorites, so i turned it up. and we just sang along with all our hearts, Jacob more confidently on the English verses. i looked back in the rearview mirror and Jacob was bobbing his head, looking around with light-hearted delight. there was no pretense, no fighting, just singing together. and then it hit me, this is it, this is my life, my lot, this is me communing with little Jacob, and this is God showing up and delighting in us. God, i long to live each minute, as a moment pregnant with life and new beginnings, give me fresh eyes and a fresh voice to sing along with you, oh God, as you did to us this morning.