Christmas - Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

The Great Christmas Pillow Debate

December 19, 2024 by Ellen 2 Comments

The debate (or disagreement) began several years ago. It’s because of all my Christmas pillows. I have six or seven (depending on your point of view) scattered around the house (I’ve cut back this year!). One pillow stays out all year. I say it technically ISN’T a Christmas pillow. My husband disagrees.

The pillow in question? Why, it’s the one that says “Joy to the world.”

I can hear you now: “Ellen, that is a pillow to celebrate Christ’s birth, Christmas.”

No. No, it isn’t.

English minister Issac Watts wrote this hymn based on Psalm 98. It was not written as a Christmas carol, as the lyrics don’t reflect Jesus’ virgin birth, but His second coming.

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare him room,

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love.

What if our joy is not for the holiday food, gifts, or sparkling lights this Christmas? What if we focus our joy on The Bread of Life, The Greatest Gift, and The Light of the World? Jesus.

And what if, as my pastor’s wife recently challenged, we have a singular focus on this one thing: Jesus is returning soon! As exiles waiting for Jesus, we can set our minds on things above. We do this by pondering how heaven and nature will sing joyfully at His coming! We focus on Jesus’ return by being in awe of the wonders of His love. We focus on Jesus’ return by ensuring our hearts prepare Him room.

Our King is coming soon to take us home to Him. Joy!

And yes, leave your Joy to the World pillow out all year!

Until He returns,

Want to know more about rejoicing as an exile? Grab a copy of my book, Longing to Belong-Filling the Longings of Our Hearts with the Hope of Home.

Rejoicing in Rescue

December 12, 2024 by Ellen Leave a Comment

The haunting melodic chant washed over me. Lyrics slowly told the story of people mourning in captivity and exile. How could this be a Christmas hymn? It didn’t seem joyful at all. But then…the refrain burst forth:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Although the melody may have a disquieting effect on you, in reality, this is a hymn of hope. The mourning exiles would be ransomed. Immanuel would free them from captivity by paying a price.

Haven’t we all felt like exiles and captives, even at this most joyous time of year? We’re held captive by demands on our time and by the expectations of others. Sadly, many of us are exiled and estranged from family. So often, though He freed us with His blood, we are still slaves to our sins. But Jesus. He redeems and ransoms us from our captivity to sin.

O come, O come, Immanuel,

and ransom captive Israel

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appears.

Jesus, Immanuel, God with us will do the same for us. One day soon, He will come to rescue us from this earth and bring us home to Him. One day the messiness of this earthly life will be completely and perfectly redeemed. By Immanuel.

O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,

unto your own and rescue them!

From depths of hell your people save,

and give them victory o’er the grave.

O come, O Key of David, come

and open wide our heavenly home.

Make safe for us the heavenward road

and bar the way to death’s abode.

We are exiles here, longing for home. But we can rejoice today and every day because we are redeemed, ransomed, and rescued by the blood of Jesus. And one day soon, we’ll be Home for Christmas.

For His Glory,

Want to know more about being an exile? Grab a copy of my book, Longing to Belong-Filling the Longings of Our Hearts with the Hope of Home.