Sweet Sharon's Rose and Crystal Dawn

"I'm glad I found Thee, Sweet Sharon's Rose," 

sings George Beverly Shea on the Christmas CD that Crystal put on more than once this week.

And how do you express the feelings of the heart when you see a scene like this at the

kitchen window on a morning after Christmas,

while the thought of "Sweet Sharon's Rose" lingers on your mind?

How do you capture in words the feelings of your heart?

There was that beautiful red rose, sillouetted against the snow outside.

 The red contrasting with the white--just as the precious blood of Jesus brings such a contrast between the black of the heart of sin,

and the white purity within that happens when we repent and surrender to Him.

That rose in the crystal dawn of the morning

reminds me also of the morning 20 years ago when we held our own beautiful Crystal Dawn 

in our arms and looked out the window of the birthing clinic near Stoneboro, PA, 

to see the rolling mounds of glittering white snow--

and felt that God had blessed not only us and our precious first baby

but also her beautiful name!

So last week we celebrated God giving Crystal to us 20 years ago.

Twenty candles!

It's been a blessing having her around with her cheerful laughter and helpful ways

these two short weeks that she's home before heading back to college.

Her opening gifts.

Ever since Sam's friend Michael Gohde gave him an orange flavored chocolate candy like this one, it's been something on our Christmas time list, or what we get for their December birthdays.

We all love it!

Always work to do after all the fun!

And always--the darkness, drudgery and draining drabs trying to press in and close in and make us forget
Sweet Sharon's Rose.
But there ahead of us, the road white with snow,
lit up by our van's headlights.

In the middle of the darkest night, 

white snow falls, glistening in the morning sun,

sparkling in the crystal dawn as we get up and around,

drinking our morning brews,

with a beautiful red rose on the kitchen window sill blooming

against the backdrop of frost,

reminding us of that sweet rose that bloomed 2000 years ago--
Bethlehem's Rose!