Daughters of Promise November/December 2014 | Page 30

guarding them from comparison and entitlement-- and
guiding them into truth and thankfulness.
In the ebb and flow life, there will be happy holidays and sad
holidays. I’m so sorry if you are in a sad holiday this winter. But,
please know, it is okay for this holiday to be shaded darker
than the others in your life. Allow it to bring you closer to Jesus,
for you to feel the need of His healing deeper than you have
ever felt it before.
Years ago my father left our family right before the holidays. It
was the worst holiday season ever. I spent Thanksgiving dinner
crying, broken-hearted, in a dark room. I didn’t eat a thing
that day. I was sure I would never eat again. But God and
time brought perspective. I did eat again--and I have had
many, many happy Thanksgivings since that horrible holiday.
The sadness of yesterday brings new thankfulness to the joy of
today.
The painful holidays, the one where the friends were gone
and the settings were new and the family strewn, are the ones
that brought me to my knees the longest, the hardest. The
one where I felt like I was walking with a heart in two pieces
is the one I look back on and feel Jesus closest, the story of
His coming to earth the most meaningful (because isn’t it
when we feel like we need saving the most that we are most
thankful for salvation?).
If you are in a shaded dark holiday this year, I cry with you,
hold you close. It’s sad to be sad during the holidays. But,
please remember, it will not be like this forever. This too shall
pass. There will be happier days ahead. Walk in this changing
situation knowing the tears will turn to smiles again, the
beautiful Christmas happiness will return. I promise.
Now my holidays are bright (although I still can’t listen to “I’ll be
home for Christmas,” without tearing up). It’s about wrapping
a bow around a green tractor for my little boy, stealing a kiss
from my husband under the mistletoe and enjoying time with
family and friends close. It’s a good season, a season of rest
and joy. I know that it’s a gift, this season of joy, and I hold it
close--cradle it softly in my hands, knowing how fragile it is. It
can all change in a blink, a flash.
While I cradle this gift of joy, I cry with my friends whose
holidays look dark, painful, unsettling this year. I pray for my
friend who has an empty crib, a young wife who reaches to
find her husband missing in the night, a friend who watches
lovers all around her and silently wonders if she will ever have
a family of her own. I cry with my friend who is lonely in a
new community, feeling misplaced and forgotten. Together
we are Tiny Tims looking into the window of plenty and joy with
our fingers numb and tummies hollow, wishing for something
to make the ache go away.
That something is Jesus. He is the true meaning behind the
holidays, and He is the only reason we can have hope when
all seems dark during them. He alone will fill us with good
things. Spend lots of time with Jesus to keep yourself grounded
and to gain fresh perspective on what He is doing in your life
this holiday.
And—be gentle, very gentle with yourself.
Being in a new setting -- whether physically or emotionally-- is
a vulnerable, scary place. The holidays have a way of making
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