This is always a tough time of year for people who are suffering, grieving, alone, troubled, in crisis, etc. The emphasis on happiness, “merriness” and festivities can make those who are struggling feel extremely lonely. In consideration for that, I wanted to post some comforting things here today.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Poems:
His Billows – by Annie Johnson Flint
“I Am with You” – by Annie Johnson Flint
I See Jesus – by Annie Johnson Flint
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Words of Comfort:
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Hallelujah, What A Savior – Philip P. Bliss
It Is Well with My Soul – Horatio G. Spafford
Thank you, Mary....You are a blessing.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful you were blessed. Hope things improve for you and yours.
DeleteI cant begin to tell you how much I think of this very thing. There are so many hurting people & many that I know personally who wish these days would just pass. Its very upsetting. I often think of the elderly in the nursing home, children who have a parent in prison ect.... the list goes on & on & I think, "these people are hurting, they are lonely, they dont or cant be merry as it is forced upon them." Im so glad you brought this up, I thought I was the only one who stressed over this each year.
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out & its big for these ones. I am grateful for the compassion God has given me for others.
Thank you for the blessing ~
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DeleteI'm glad you were blessed. Yes, this time of year can be very depressing to some people and that's so sad! I feel that even though we choose not to celebrate ourselves.
DeleteI probably *really* thought about it in a different way when I was in my 20s and a good family friend lost her husband on Dec. 20th one year. I think I felt even worse because she tried so hard to make Christmas "merry" for her kids anyway instead of allowing herself and them to all grieve normally. I think she felt compelled by the very thing you mention - the pressure to be "merry and bright." :-(
My post on Dec. 20th - "Re-run of Holiday Challenge Number 5 - Remember the Poor" - also deals with the subject of remembering those who are hurting. You might enjoy that if you haven't read it already.
Have a blessed week, sister.
Funny, I was born in Italy into a Catholic family. We celebrated Christmas of course. Years later I became a Christian, left the Catholic dogma & went on with my life. I then got married & we started a family doing what every "normal" Christian family would do, celebrate Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYears went on & the Lord kept pressing my husband & myself about this Catholic holiday. We got rid of all of our Christmas decorations & decided that we would not celebrate as all others do. Its been many years now, & I feel strongly that in our home, we cannot celebrate something I got saved out of.
With all that said, each year I fall back into that the day has been made so big that it actually becomes a day that some may wish never come around. The pressure to be with family & to open gifts with someone just CANT happen for everyone. The emphasis causes great distress on many.
Good stuff & I will check the other article!
blessings upon blessings to your & yours :)
Part of the reason my family first started backing off from Christmas was the Catholic connection. Here's an article I wrote over at my web page on why we don't celebrate Christmas. It might be of interest to you.
Deletehttp://www.homemakerscorner.com/christmass-why-not.htm