Meet Me Under the Mistletoe.



Christmas is officially here. The season where families are reunited. Friends are gathered together. And Santa’s Elves on Shelves are hard at work keeping kids in check. 

But Christmas is also a season that digs up our secret hurts. The couple whose marriage was broken will spend their first Christmas apart. The parents who lost their newborn baby will carefully tuck away the “Baby’s first Christmas” ornament. And the child in an orphanage will only read of Christmas through books. 

The truth is, Christmas can hurt. 
And recently I have struggled with this. 
Struggled with seeing all my friends post their Christmas dates or family Christmas pictures and wondering when my time is. Wondering why I don’t have that. 
Yes I am only 23. Yes this past year I went half way across the world on a mission trip to the Philippines that changed my life. Yes I started my own company all by myself this past fall. And yes I am blessed with an amazing family whose parents have been married 27 years and siblings I can honestly say are my best friends. 

And as I sit here writing this blog post, I feel so ridiculous. For letting one small thing in my life overshadow all the amazing things God has blessed me with in just this past year. 

And then I ask myself, when was the last time I thanked Him? 

When God has blessed me with so much this year, why do I choose to let the one thing God has told me to wait on completely steal my joy? 

It’s Christmas. A time when God sent His only Son into the world to save us from our sins. A time where instead of asking God for more, we should be on our knees thanking Him for the greatest gift of all. A time of gratitude. 

Max Lucado wrote, "To reflect on your blessings is to rehearse God’s accomplishments. To rehearse God’s accomplishments is to discover his heart. To discover his heart is to discover not just good gifts but the Good Giver. Gratitude always leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what the morning sun does to valley mist. It burns it up.”

Thank God for the child that found a home this year. Thank God for the husband who remains faithful to his wife. Thank God for the reindeer cookies and peppermint mochas! Ceaselessly thank Him and watch the ONE thing that you haven’t checked off your wish list grow smaller and smaller in relevance. 

As for me, you can find me solo under the mistletoe this year. But solo with a grateful heart and looking forward to the blessings God has for me in 2016.

“Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20)


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