Christmas Verbs

Do you ever wonder...

Who had the bright idea to create letters, form them into words, then sentences and paragraphs?

Don't you wish you could pull up YouTube and actually watch the first ever reading lesson?

The creator of letters had to sit down and teach another person what the squiggly lines stood for and how to organize them into words to convey meaning. 

Can you imagine how many words have been written since? 

As a writer, I play close attention to words, sentence structure, and parts of speech. Verbs have been on my mind lately. They're busy little words conveying action. Even ones like—wait, sit, hush, and stifle—require extra challenging action, aka restraint.  

Look what I noticed while reading the Christmas story. 

Gabriel greeted Mary with God's favor.

The Holy Spirit came with power and overshadowed Mary.

While in the womb, baby John the Baptist leaped for joy at Mary's greeting.

Elizabeth blessed Mary.

Joseph dreamed, obeyed,  and named Him Jesus.

An Angel appeared and delivered good news of great joy. A great company of angels praised.

The shepherds watched the angels, hurried and found the Babe then spread the Word.

The star led.

The Magi came to worship.  They opened their treasures and presented gifts.

Simeon waited for the Lord's Christ, cradled Him, saw the salvation and blessed His parents.

Anna spoke about the Child and redemption of Jerusalem.

The Word became flesh, full of grace and truth and dwelled with us.

And my personal favorite—

Mary wondered, believed, gave birth, treasured, pondered and marveled.

Wonderful verbs describing lots of action. 

I confess today's Christmas verbs which include planning, shopping, spending, wrapping, decorating, cooking, eating, and rushing can be more of a chore than a joy. 

Maybe if I focus on the first Christmas verbs more, I will discover joy, peace, and love tucked inside every moment. So here's to...

Greeting, blessing, dreaming, delivering, leaping, praising, watching, spreading, leading, worshipping, opening, presenting, waiting, cradling, seeing, speaking, dwelling, wondering, believing, giving, treasuring, pondering and marveling.  

May our minds be amazed at the verbs of this season. And may these 2,074 letters formed into 397 words be a blessing to you.

I pray you will actively experience a blessed Christ-filled, Christmas.

What's your favorite Christmas verb? What traditions make your heart smile? Please share. It only takes a moment to bless others with your words.