This time of year is about the holiday season. Presents, traditions, family, and most importantly, the birth of Christ. We get so wrapped up in the holiday happenings around us that we may forget that others may not be in the “holiday spirit.”

I know a person at our church whose mother passed away Saturday. Another lady just received a devastating diagnosis of cancer with “three months” to live. How do you embrace the holiday’s when these situations are around?

I believe it’s about hope. Not the kind of hope that a child has when thinking about presents, but the hope we have in Christmas. It is something that we know with certainty will happen. The birth of Christ. God promised the Jewish people that the Messiah was coming. They relied on this when they became slaves to Pharoah. The birth of Christ is the fulfillment of God’s promise to send the Messiah.

Even now, when we are in times of despair, financial ruin, dissolution of family, God is there. We have hope in Him and he never fails us.

Today I Am Thankful For:

1. crunchy granola
2. wrapping presents
3. Christmas caroling
4. my boys being home for the holiday’s
5. hope