As I stare at the calendar, I wonder how Christmas somehow got here already. It feels like just yesterday I was laughing outside in the summertime sunshine with my bare feet in the cool grass. And now the air is cold and smells of snow while Christmas is only days away. The world is in a stage of hustle and bustle as everyone rushes here and there trying desperately to somehow create a "perfect" Christmas. Maybe you're wondering too how Christmas showed up again so quickly. And maybe this year...maybe it's just a little bit harder than it's been before for you. As I was sitting down here to write, I thought about all of the happy memories surrounding my Christmas and all of the family traditions we keep year after year. I thought about the joy of family at Christmas and the blessing of being together. And in the middle of it all...I thought of you, the one hurting at Christmastime...and my heart ached for you. Perhaps I don't know what it is that has got your soul just a little bit sad this season. Perhaps I don't know what ache tightens around your heart when you think of Christmas coming next week. Perhaps I don't know what causes the tears in your eyes when you see the twinkling lights and hear the carols playing. Maybe you've lost a loved one in 2018. Or maybe you even lost a loved one years ago and this season is still one of the hardest to accept without them here. Maybe 2018 was just so hard in so many ways that you're not even sure how people could understand. And so this year your smile feels forced at the family Christmas dinner table. Maybe you experienced the loss of a dream or a hope or a wish that left you shattered and so you just don't feel like celebrating all that much this time. Maybe you lost a relationship and so Christmas feels a little different than it did last year. Whatever your maybe is, I want to remind you of what Christmas really means. Because oh friend, in the middle of the crazy rush of this season and the store lines and the present buying and all that other extra stuff, it can be so easy to forget. You see, the simple version of it all is this: Christmas is celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus. God sent Jesus to this world because He loves us more than we could ever imagine. Jesus came to fix our future of death because of our sin and to fix all the broken places inside of us. He came to forgive our sin and to heal our broken hearts and to enter into a relationship with us. And so perhaps Christmas is the most hope-filled season you could be entering into friend, no matter what your heart is feeling. Because the greatest hope we've ever been given is that He loves us. Jesus loves us. No matter what your "maybe" is and no matter what has broken your heart and no matter why your hurting soul this season...it could never change the meaning of Christmas. That Christ has come, hallelujah. And not only that He has come, but that He loves us and He is for us and He is with us and praise the Lord a Savior was born to us. Look up, dear child of His. He has come and He is never walking away. He came for you and He came for me. You can face whatever is hurting your heart this Christmas season, because He has faced it all to ransom you back to Himself. He is with you here. Emmanuel has come. God with us. You're going to be okay this Christmas, sweet soul. Because He has always loved you...and He always will.
Ashley Sulfridge
12/20/2018 03:56:12 pm
What a meaningful post, Bella! It blessed my heart! Merry Christmas and love in Christ! Comments are closed.
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