When Christmas feels different: A warm hug and gentle prayer for your heart

I hope these words feel like a warm mug of steaming hot chocolate by a soft fire under blankets in the winter time.

Enjoy them, savor them and wrap them around you like a sweet hug from a friend. Just the right amount of squeeze and heart to carry you a little longer in this journey of life.

You have permission to release what is beyond your control.

I want you to know that you have permission to release what is beyond your control. You can lay that down right now. Whatever it is. Name it and lay it down at the feet of Jesus. It’s not your job to carry it anymore. And certainly not alone. I want you to close your eyes and visualize that in this moment with a 5 second inhale and 5 second exhale. Release that burden.

You are so loved.

I also think it’s important that you realize you are so loved. You are loved beyond comprehension. In this moment and the next. You’re not loved because of how impressive you are, how talented, or self-sufficient you are. You are loved because the Author of love knit you together with love and intention. You have a purpose. To use your life to make an impact for the kingdom, not in your strength but in the divine strength God gives you each day. Take heart. You are so so loved.

What you have to give and what you will give is enough.

Your success, worth, love and identity is not measured by the gifts wrapped under the Christmas tree. You are not worth less or more if you had to reevaluate your shopping list this year or cut back. The best gifts come with heart, silly stories and a lot of love from the giver. What you have to give and what you will give is enough.

It’s OK if “Christmas magic” feels different.

It’s OK if “Christmas magic” feels different this year. Maybe you’re grieving relationships or losses. Maybe this holiday doesn’t look like what you imagined or even what you hoped for. It’s OK  to feel those feelings and to feel them deeply. The older we get the more we realize the sweetest “Christmas magic” wasn’t about presents it was about presence and love. Let God guide you through this season and remember His love can comfort you and sustain you all year long. Because of His great love, His sweet Son and unending mercy and grace we can celebrate even in our brokenness, even in our hurt and even in the moments we long for more Christmas magic that seems possible. In those moments may you experience the truth that God brings peace and joy that come far surpass our feelings about Christmas magic.

My dear friend, no matter where you are or how you feel, above all I hope this season brings you a time of deep peace, reflection and joy found in the greatest gifts of all: salvation and the Presence of Jesus Christ in your life.

This is my prayer for you this season:

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

- Ephesians 3:16-19

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, dear readers! May God bless you richly and abundantly and far beyond your comprehension this new year!

Love,

Jess