Today’s episode is a bit different than our usual format so I’m offering a brief introduction to welcome you to it and give a bit of background.
Every year my church here in Greensboro creates one of my favorite offerings called Lessons and Carols. It’s a service of music; both original compositions and familiar favorites, as well as a collection of readings from scripture that tell the story of Jesus. This year it was told through the lens of home, both the one we have here and the one we continue to long for.
Advent is a season of waiting and this night of lessons and carols is a time to remember how God’s people waited many years for the Messiah, how he chose to make his home among us, and how we wait still for him to come again.
This year, my friend and pastor Michael VanPatter asked if I would be willing to write a short piece to end the night, a reflection to close our time together. It was an honor, as a writer, to hold space for this idea of home, to listen for the ways my own longing mixes with my current reality and how joy and sorrow coexist for all of us.
That can be especially true at Christmas.
I wish I had the rights to broadcast the entire night right here on the podcast so you could hear how the creative image of God is so beautifully reflected in the music of some of my dearest friends at Hope Chapel. That would be my first choice.
Instead, I’ll settle for my second choice which is to simply share with you that piece I wrote to close the Lessons and Carols service.
Whether you’re surrounded today by friends and family who know you well or if you find yourself in an unknown place this Christmas, I hope these words will bring a bit of comfort and clarity as you continue to honor the tension you may feel between being where you are and longing for a home you miss.
And Merry Christmas to you.
Links + Resources From This Episode:
- My book, The Next Right Thing
- Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman
I’m Emily and I’m glad you’re here!
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Nancy says
December 24, 2019 at 1:30 PMThis is perhaps your best work ever. Many thanks,
emily p freeman says
December 29, 2019 at 6:53 PMThank you Nancy! High praise and that means so much. It took quite some time to write 🙂
Kaye Weathers says
December 28, 2019 at 7:30 AMEmily: I believe this podcast of Christmas Eve is the best I’ve ever heard about our Savior, relating to our home and longing for our home in heaven. I am in awe at the choosing of the words you orchestrated like a symphony in this podcast. My favorite was when the Christ in you meets the Christ in me together reflect the image of our knowable God. A beautiful podcast to introduce Christ to an unbeliever or someone who might just be ready to accept Him. Thanks so much!
emily p freeman says
December 29, 2019 at 6:52 PMOh thank you! That means so much to me.
Gail says
December 28, 2019 at 7:31 PMPowerful and true and listening to you fills my cup. Thank you, precious friend.
Laura Gettler says
December 31, 2019 at 7:08 PMSo tender.
amk says
January 1, 2020 at 7:57 PMI listened to this last week and still tear up each time I think of it. So powerful and true. And so applicable to where I am.
Helen says
January 4, 2020 at 2:13 PMThis was refreshing to the heart and soul. Thank you for the offering of this gift that God can/will use to comfort and excite us as we experience home here and anticipate our home to come.
How can we find and hear again the wonderful background music that was used in your reading?
Thank you!
emily p freeman says
January 6, 2020 at 10:00 AMThank you! That music is royalty free music I found on MusicBed.
Kathy Vandegrift says
January 6, 2020 at 9:28 AMEvery word, every thought, the artistic beauty lead me to the majestic holiness of Him to swiftly nestle in to your expressions of nostalgia massaging out the hardened edges of the longing for home. Soothing, comforting, enlivening love!! Thank You Father and friend Alita for sharing friend Emily.