God bless the child

Before I write a word of my post, let me first wish you all a Happy and Holy Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful day with your loved ones.

I'm not gonna write too much today, feeling a bit tired and stressed out to be honest. It's been quite a long day for me. I don't know what the situation's in your houses, but in this house, Christmas preparations usually fall on the matriach's back, that back being mine, and it's sort of close to busting at the moment.

So to cut a long story short, the family and I were out driving to the city tonight to see the "live" nativity at the cathedral (even had a "live" baby out there in freezing cold, poor thing!). And while we were driving a song came on the radio that really captured my attention. The singer was familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger on her name until half way through the song. It was Shania Twain, someone who I am not really a big fan of. Not a fan of at all. Way too commercial for my taste. But the lyrics of this song genuinely caught me, made me sit up and take notice.

And the song seemed such an appropriate one for tonight, when I thought about the little child Jesus being born on a cold night in a stable in Bethlehem, no one wanting to make an effort and take in a husband and his very pregnant wife. Times haven't changed much when you think about it, have they? Would any of us out there, should a man and his very pregnant wife come to our door, let them in and give them shelter from the cold? I'm not really sure...hand on heart, I'm not sure that even I would, having been brought up in often cynical Australia...

And after having seen the nativity and thought about the circumstances of Jesus' birth, and the birth of many a child in the world, I thought about how lucky I am. I may whinge and whine and wish this and that, but at the end of the day, I am truly thankful to God for all he has given me and my kids. Because there's so much pain and suffering in this world when you think about it.

God bless the child who suffers, God bless us all.

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
God bless the child who suffers
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
God bless the young without mothers

This child is homeless,
That child's on crack
One plays with a gun,
while the other takes a bullet in his back

This boy's a beggar,
That girl sells her soul
They both work the same street,
The same hell hole

Hallelujah, hallelujah,
God bless the child who suffers
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Let every man help his brother

Some are born addicted
and some are just thrown away
Some have daddies who make them
Play games they don't want to play

But with hope and faith
We must understand
All God's children need is love
And us to hold their little hands

This boy is hungry,
He ain't got enought to eat
That girl's cold
And she ain't got no shoes on her feet

When a child's spirit's broken
And feels all hope is gone
God help them find
The strength to carry on

But with hope and faith
Yea, we can understand
All God's children need is love
And us to hold their little hands

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Let us all love one another
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Make all our hearts bilnd to color
Hallelujah, hallelujah
God bless the child who suffers