Broken ornaments…
They’re all around us Lord…beautiful broken ornaments…so much sickness, sadness, suffering and heartache that it’s difficult to celebrate and rejoice. I’m trying really hard Lord to capture and hold onto the Christmas spirit this year. I know it’s out there somewhere but for the most part it eludes me. The needs of others are so great right now and I feel so small and inadequate and I don’t know what to do.
My Christmas prayer…
My soul is grieved Lord. Sometimes those with the biggest hearts have the least to give or so we think. God, can you hear me? Are you listening? Can you use me? Please help my family and friends and those that I don’t even know this holiday season Lord. Please ease their pain and suffering. Please bring someone into the lives of those who are lonely. Please provide for those in need. Give them hope Lord. Help them to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Give them reassurance Lord that everything is going to be alright; that you have a plan, regardless of how dark things may seem right now. Please increase our awareness Lord and give us the patience to listen. Everyone whom we come in contact with has a story, sometimes a very sad one. Please let those who are stingy Lord have an Ebenezer Scrooge experience that will melt their cold, miserly hearts. Please help the givers of the world to live within their means Lord and to recognize true need. Please let the motivation for giving Lord come from the heart and not from a place of guilt or obligation. Please help us to remember Lord that sometimes we are the gift but that you are the greatest gift of all and that’s why we celebrate. Lord, please help us to be aware of the tiny magic everywhere in spite of our sorrows. Help us to see the twinkling lights, to breathe in the smells all around us that remind us of home, loved ones and Christmases past. God give us the gift of remembering; the good and even the not so good so that we may heal. Help us to find love Lord in the most unlikely and unexpected places. Help us to appreciate the innocence of a child; to see the wonder and delight on their faces as they experience the holidays through their little eyes. Help us to create a spirit of magic Lord and a sense of wonder in our children by having them listen for sleigh bells as they fall asleep on Christmas Eve. Remind us to pause for a moment Lord and gaze into a nativity scene and imagine what it must have felt like to be present on the day you were born. Help us to get lost in the swirling snow of a snow globe Lord and imagine that we are inside of it dancing around. Help us to hold on to our traditions Lord like sending Christmas cards through the mail with warm personal greetings handwritten inside and seasonal stamps on the envelopes just for fun. This feels so much warmer and personal than a Facebook post, a text with a cute emoji or an email. Help us to remember Lord that sometimes in order to receive a card, we have to be the first to send one. One of my greatest joys Lord is sitting down with my cards after things settle down a bit and taking the time to really read the message contained inside each one of them. Friends and family are a gift from you too.
Maybe for some of us the spirit of Christmas can be found at theme parks, holiday light tours, fancy parties, shopping malls and tacky gift exchanges. But what I really suspect is that the spirit of Christmas is not to be found in any of these things. The true meaning and spirit of Christmas is only meant to be discovered and felt in our hearts.
Well said Sandy ,you know I enjoy sending cards .. even though some I send I never receive one back from that person,but it’s ok I will continue the tradition .. I read all my cards again on Christmas Eve and drink coffee and eat cookies I hope you have a blessed Christmas ??
Oh my goodness! I loved your conversation with God and it’s everything I would like to say but don’t know how sometimes. I will accept this as my gift from you. It’s just what I wanted and needed. Merry Christmas Sissy!