name that song

Big Mama had a post about her favorite Christmas songs, and I thought it would be , worthwhile to do something similar. Here's the deal: I'll share mine, then you share yours. Fair enough, yes?

Ah, Christmas music. There's really nothing else like it, is there? Nostalgic, poignant. Happy, wistful, and yes, sometimes sad. Personally, I try to hold off on Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Well, let's make that until after Thanksgiving dinner. After that, it's a delirious festival of yuletide tunes, up until right around New Year's Day, when I screech to a halt, feeling hung over with the heaviness of evergreen branches and holly berries.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Because right now, this moment, my household is newly (re)awakened to the beauty (ethereal and otherwise) of Christmas music. And so, without further ado... not in any particular order, here are some of my dearest, most beloved Christmas songs. At the moment, anyway.

1) Precious Promise by Steven Curtis Chapman.
Do you know this song? Tender, honest, and poignant, it carries the fragile beauty of what was perhaps God's most "majestic whisper."

2) O Holy Night - covered by Selah. Breathtaking!

3) Joseph's Lullaby by MercyMe. A few years ago, hearing this song for the first time, I was reduced to tears - I could hardly see to drive home.

4) Going Home For Christmas by Steven Curtis Chapman. This song always makes me think of my Grandma Oyer. The bridge makes me cry...every single time I hear it.

5) Christmas Offering by Casting Crowns. Yes!

6) Christmas Is All In The Heart by Steven Curtis Chapman. This wonderful season is not about having tons of money, the perfect tree, or opening presents. It's about "the love heaven gave" on that holy night. Here is a beautiful reminder of that truth.

7) O Come, O Come Emmanuel - covered by Selah. Hauntingly beautiful, the longing is palpable. May all Israel find her Messiah.

8) Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) by Amy Grant. So vulnerable and honest. I had the privilege of performing this song as a teenager, and it's meant a lot to me ever since.

9) Mary Did You Know. God's own Son, clothed in human skin. Incredible.

10) Worthy Is the Lamb That was Slain/Hallelujah by Handel, as performed by Twila Paris (and company) for the New Young Messiah album. Christmas? Easter? Does it matter? The line grows blurry for me here, because it's all part of the same amazing, beautiful, heartrending story. He came, He died, He rose. He is worthy!

Have Merry Christmastime!