This time of year has always been one of my favorites. However, this year things seem a bit “off”. I almost started crying on the way to church today when I saw a car go by with a Christmas tree tied to the top. I imagined this happy family, all together, gathered around it, drinking cocoa with carols in the background as they decorated it together. And then of course, I thought about how that was not going to happen at my house this year.
Sure, there will be a small tree and some decorations, but most of it I will do myself and maybe even some while the kids are not here. The fact that my kids will be somewhere other than with me on Christmas also adds to the sting. These realities are not easy.
So how do I handle these hard things? Who do I lean on? Who hears my every cry and knows my sorrow? Who lifts me when I am down? He does. HE always does.
“Brothers and sisters:
You know the time;
it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.”
– Romans 13: 11-12
I am waiting for His coming, I am putting my hope and trust in Him. Today we lit the first candle of Advent as we await his birth. At church we sang O Come, O Come Emanuel. I pray I can find the peace this holiday season that only He can supply. And I pray that for all his people.
Come Lord Jesus, Come.
Photo by my friend Susan, @susanward99 on Instagram