As the days of Advent have unfolded, so the windows Matt and Rachel’s neighbourhood in Leeds, England, have unveiled the story of Christmas. 24 homes each put a display in their window, with a number, and every day a new window is illuminated. People can walk around the neighbourhood and see displays of Jesus’ presence every day.
In Matt and Rachel’s upstairs windows are the camel and three kings, and the star that they are heading towards. The star is hanging in their baby daughter’s bedroom window.
As I was gazing at the photo I started thinking about all the ‘stars’ in my life that I won’t see this Christmas. Some who now live forever with Jesus and some who live across an ocean from me right now. And yet the light of Jesus shines so brightly for all of us, in this world and the next, that we can gaze upon Him and hold onto HOPE.
I thought how precious it is that Matt and Rachel have such a bright star shining in their window when I know that they are living in the sorrow of the absence of Boaz and the joy of the presence of Zoe. And then Rachel sent me a reflection about Christmas Kintsugi and I was reminded of the Jesus JOY that shines in their house – literally at the moment, from the 4th window that we shared in the Beacon of Hope!
And as if that wasn’t enough to remind us of how God is at work in all of our lives, we received a short video from the owner of the ‘Joy’ house! You can listen to Tim’s reflection on ‘What a Year!’ by clicking the button below.
