Silent Night Before Christmas

I sit on the deck of a beautiful cabin tucked deep in the mountains of North Carolina, watching the sun slowly slip behind the trees. Below me, leaves rustle as deer skitter through the underbrush, unseen but unmistakably present. There’s a coolness in the air now—just enough to remind me that night is on its way and that tomorrow will be Christmas Day.

This isn’t what I expected when we made our reservations. In my mind, Christmas in the mountains meant snow-dusted branches and frosted mornings, a white Christmas straight out of a postcard. Instead, the air is almost warm, brushing 70 degrees, and the forest wears shades of brown and evergreen rather than white.

And yet.

The stillness settles in a way snow never could. No rushing. No noise. Just the quiet companionship of creation breathing around me. It slows my thoughts and gently shifts my focus from what I imagined to what is. I’m reminded that some of the best gifts arrive unwrapped and unplanned.

God is so good to gift us this beauty—this pause, this peace. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) rises gently in my heart, as if the mountains themselves are whispering it back to me. Gratitude swells until it feels almost too big to hold.

Christmas, I realize, is more than a single day circled on the calendar. It’s a heart song—one that plays quietly when we stop long enough to listen. It lives in sunsets instead of snowfall, in rustling leaves instead of carols, and in the sacred stillness that reminds us Emmanuel is still very much with us.

Lord, thank You for meeting me here—in the quiet, in the unexpected, in the beauty I didn’t plan for but needed all the same. Thank You for the rustle of leaves, the soft fading light, and the stillness that settles my heart. Help me to carry this peace with me beyond this moment, beyond this season, and into the days ahead. Remind me that Christmas is not confined to one day, but lives wherever gratitude dwells and love takes root. May my heart remain open, still, and listening.

Amen.

Everyday Devotionals ©️ Bonnie Annis