The Innkeeper's Song

I wrote "The Innkeeper's Song" for an Advent service a couple weeks ago. I was hoping to record it before Christmas, but I haven't had time. (Maybe next year.) Anyway, since it's Christmas Eve, I figured I would at least give you the lyrics:

VERSE 1:
A travel-weary couple,
Worn out by their trip from the Galilee
He was old and rugged, and she was just a girl
In the latter stages of pregnancy

They asked me for a place to stay
Concerned about the child in the girl’s womb
But they’ll be sleeping with their donkey—it might get kind of funky
In the stable, ‘cause I’m all out of room

CHORUS:
Little hamlet in Judea
What strange things we’ve seen tonight
While my inn is full of strangers . . .

VERSE 2:
The couple took my offer
And settled for a night with the friendly beasts
But while sleeping in the stable, the girl went into labor (no pause)
In the company of cattle and sheep

The child arrived that evening
While his family was lonely and lost
I glanced out through my window and watched them lay the infant
Down to fall asleep in a feeding trough

CHORUS:
Little hamlet in Judea
What strange things we’ve seen tonight
In the stillness and the darkness
We have witnessed the birth of the light

VERSE 3:
Then out from the fields
Came a group of shepherds to see the child
Disheveled but excited, they loitered uninvited
The guests were getting restless—what’s happening outside?

And all that I could tell them:
There must be something special about this kid
He brings hope to the lowly; he challenges the holy
Maybe God can mend our broken world through him