O Little Town of Bethlehem!

I made it!  I had the pit stop for my illness, and then had trouble getting motivated again, but I have finally made it successfully 80 miles.  The journey started on December 4, so it took me 33 days.  Which really when I think about it, is still impressive.  I ran 80 miles in 33 days.  And I made it to Bethlehem before Epiphany, which was my new goal after not being able to make it by Christmas.

A few final thoughts about my journey to Bethlehem.  Tonight I debated about how far to run.  I only had 6 miles to go thanks to 2 other post-sickness runs I had done, so I thought about running 3 miles today and then finishing the other 3.  Or I thought about doing 4 since that was my standard for most of December and then I would just have 2 to go.  Then I thought, but I could do 5 and be closer.  But if I did 5, what's 1 more just to finish?  And I realized I wanted to get there.

At one point I was singing to myself

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 ever lasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.

And also this one (my personal favorite)

O Holy Night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear savior's birth
Long lay the world, in sin and error pining
Til he appeared, and the soul felt it's worthA thrill of hope, the weary world rejoicingFor yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night,divine, Oh night, Oh night divine
The lines that I have bolded here really stuck out to me, especially tonight as I thought about how quickly the magic of Christmas fades. It's 11 days after Christmas.  The decorations are gone (except at places like our apartment). Stores have already move on to Valentine's day.  Music is back to normal.  Kids are getting ready to head back to school if they haven't already.  I am preparing for the craziness that is my January.

At Christmas, I hear over and over again that we need to "Keep the Christ in Christmas," but I think the harder thing is to keep Christ in every day.  The birth of Christ is not a miracle to be celebrated once a year with presents and carols and parties and decorations.  The birth of Christ gives life meaning.  "The soul felt it's worth... the weary world rejoicing."  That's not one day a year - or at least it shouldn't be.  So as I celebrate arriving in Bethlehem tonight, I celebrate the joy that is Emmanuel, God with us - today and every day and the hope that I find in the birth of Jesus Christ.



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