I’m not sure if what I love most about the holidays are the lights, the smells or the tastes. sweet gingerbread fresh from the oven, the earthy scent of pine, serenades of Michael Buble and Bing Crosby, warm candles glowing, hot chocolate, peppermint, and marshmallows It's all a whirlwind for the senses and for the soul. And in this whirlwind, I tend to get lost in the excess. I plunge into overload, all for the sake of savoring the experience of Christmas instead of the hope of Christmas. Because I don't want to be reminded of how hard life is during the holidays. The truth is we can expend so much energy in trying to forget that we miss out on the true gift of hope lying unwrapped beneath the broken layers of our heart. a marriage hanging by a thinning Continue Reading
The Christmas Ninja
Too many years have gone by to remember names, but the image on Christmas morning is forever etched in my mind. We were newlyweds, celebrating our first Ohio Christmas together, both of us bored out of our minds. The tiny “blink and you’ll miss it” country town held little charm and even less in the way of evening entertainment. Our first ministry in the brick church by the railroad tracks wasn’t going so well, and we had lacked hope that our efforts were making any lasting impact on the community. I’m not really sure how it all came about because we really had no extra money to speak of. But we were both hungry for something more. When the opportunity to give hope presents itself, it’s a good idea to grab hold and let it take us places we might not normally go. We Continue Reading
7 Promises to Silence Doubt: Hope for the Holidays
Sometimes finding and hanging onto hope throughout the holidays is a daunting task, especially in the face of lingering doubt. I feel it strong this season. A kind of doubt that snuffs out hope as soon as the prayers leave my lips. And my heart is weary of crying out for God to move. This mountain grows with every word uttered toward the heavens. The faith that stands warrior-strong today yields to questions and doubts as tomorrow dawns. Is God really listening? Does He hear my heart cry? Why can't I hear Him in the midst of all this silence? When will this mountain give way? I wonder if all this hope I'm supposed to grab hold of is meant for someone else. If I've somehow missed out on the secret. If I'll forever be swimming upstream, and if faith is some empty formula Continue Reading
The Best Way to Brave a Lonely Christmas
The holidays are often the most difficult and loneliest times for many, and it's during these times hope is a much-needed commodity. Finding our focus beyond the celebration and gifts is key, and today, I'm happy to have Deb Wolf share how realizing the one true gift we have been given makes all the difference when it comes to braving a lonely heart. It was our 10th Christmas as a couple, our 7th married, our 4th as parents, and our 1st on our own. We'd spent every Christmas with one of our families for years. But this year we couldn't travel and neither could our parents or sibs. It was our first year to spend Christmas alone. We celebrated with our church family both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We enjoyed opening presents and dined on yummy foods. All was good. But as Continue Reading