Holiday Hope

“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis 

Our world was changed recently. We were impacted yet again by someone who decided to change the world we live in by injecting fear and grief into our lives. Someone in pain decided to cause pain to others. It isn't fair, it isn't right and it isn't justifiable. There is no way to get around the fact that innocent children were harmed because one man thought the world owed him a debt of some kind. No matter the stance one takes on the issue, or the connection they feel to the trauma, the fact remains that horror reigned that day, and we will be dealing with the aftermath in the days to come. 

There is one thing that cannot be taken from us in this holiday season, however hard the world may try. We have hope. Christ came into a world full or turmoil and strife to offer an alternative. This holiday season is about the love of God being born to us in human form. This glorious act of love and devotion outweighs anything that could ever dampen our spirits. We have hope. We are made for more and meant for more than anything the world has to offer. People may disappoint us or cause us to doubt what being human really means, but God will always surpass our expectations of him; even our hope will be surpassed one day. This holiday season, we still have a reason to celebrate.

We also have a purpose. If one man can change our world with an act of horror, we hold the same power to be able to change the world with an act of love. This is a time to be surrounded by friends and family, but there are those who are alone and hurting. Seek out people who need to be radically impacted by love and friendship. They are all around you. We have the power to change the world in meaningful and wonderful ways. Let's look for ways to collide with the circumstances and situations around us in a beneficial manner. God calls us to be in the world for a reason. Go find your reason. 

This holiday season I am going to celebrate Jesus and the wondrous potential that is still in the world. God doesn't make mistakes and he made the world...and me. There is a reason for both. I am going to seek to honor him while looking for ways to love a hurting world. Hopefully you can find joy this season, and find a way to give joy to others. 

May the peace of Christ be with you and bring you the hope and joy this season exemplifies. Merry Christmas! 

 

Future File

Right now I am in a marriage counseling class and a child counseling class. I am one of the only students in both of those classes who doesn't currently have a child or a spouse so everything I have learned has been filed away in my "future" file. Today was research paper day as I edited and submitted my two final projects for these classes.(Blech!) One paper was on how to increase marital longevity and the other was on how to appropriately love your children and when to let them go. As I was writing these two papers, four worlds kept popping up; responsibility, blessing, work and growth.
Looking back on my life, I realized something amazing. I have been blessed by a family that took responsibility for my spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual growth. I have prayer warrior aunts, dedicated parents, upstanding uncles, involved grandparents and an amazing sister who all took their responsibilities in my life seriously. I have seen relationships modeled for me where partners strive to be a blessing to each other, seeking to selflessly loving their spouse in the way Christ loved the Church. I have seen parents put forth the work it takes to grow with their children, not away from them and spouses continually seek to grow together to lead their families the best ways they know how. I have seen the hard work that it takes to make a relationship work, and have had the tools with which to make it work modeled for me.
No family is perfect, and I don't put mine on a pedestal, but I am so thankful for the ways they have poured into me and molded me. I didn't realize all the ways they set examples for me before entering these classes, and I may never know the full extent to which they have impacted me, but today, I recognized it in some small way and needed to take the opportunity to express my gratitude.
So, Mom and Dad, Jake and Mandi, Ben and Meredith, Christi and Jerry, Grandmommy and Bebo, Nanna and Papaw, Richard and Melinda, and Robert and Becky, thank you for being the spouses and parents you are and were. It makes a difference. To all the other great examples in my life too numerous to name, you are seen and appreciated as well.
 On days when it is hard, remember the next generation is watching you and waiting to follow in your footsteps. What you do matters. Who you are matters, as individuals and as a unit; and the legacy you are leaving behind impacts those who follow. Thank you for being people worthy of emulating. You have given me great things to put in my future file, and I am glad this is the family and circle I was born into.