Over the next couple of days, we will likely be caught up in important gatherings with friends, coworkers, family, and busy getting ready for Christmas. It’s a beautiful time of year…my favorite. I love it because it is easy to divert people’s attention to the real meaning of Christmas and, if people don’t get to do it during the year, they show their love and appreciation by giving simple gifts and telling others how much they cherish them.
But, I have a message for a lot of people who feel lonely, overlooked, and depressed.
Don’t forget that there are so many….too many…. people who are in much different circumstances and some are going through situations that we don’t even want to think about, much less suffer through. So…..
To the ones who are celebrating their first Christmas…
And to the ones who are celebrating their last…
To the ones who are enjoying their first Christmas together…
And to the ones who are reluctantly celebrating their last Christmas together…
To the blessed who have been trying to manage your time so that you can make it to all the Christmas gatherings and show your love for the MANY friends and family who are in your life….
And to the lonely, divorced, widowed, heartbroken, hopeless, estranged from family… everyone who feels like they have no one, for whatever reason…
To the ones who are celebrating because they have been healed and restored…
And to the ones who didn’t get that healing miracle yet….
To all of those who are warm in their home and trying to figure out what food is going to be at the dinner table on Monday and what is missing…
And to those who are wondering if you will find a warm place and nice meal on Monday (and every day)….
No matter what we are going through and no matter how great or how dire our circumstances are this Christmas…we are blessed and we are seen, seen by the God who sees us. He is with us. He is Emmanuel. He has always been and always will be.
I have been busy and I have had a lot of people ask me if I was ready for Christmas. I tell them yes. I am always ready for Christmas. I just wrapped my first presents this evening. I haven’t cleaned the entire house. I have barely thought about Christmas dinner. But, I am ready. I don’t stress over that minor stuff because I am trying to enjoy the time, enjoy the moments with people, and I always think of all the ones who are going through different circumstances. I know how some of those situations feel….not all of them, but some of them.
I haven’t forgotten you.
I am thinking about you and praying for you.
Jesus was born in a manger, in a barn stable, in a crowded town where there was no place for his earthly parents to stay…. so He could live on this earth and be sacrificed for us….all of us….so we could be reconciled with God.
Merry Christmas and Jesus loves you.
So do I.
There is hope. His name is Jesus.
~Chaplain Callie~
(aka Pastor Callie)
Grace & Grit Farm 