The days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting colder. It’s starting to feel a lot like winter is coming. This time of year always reminds me that the holidays are fast approaching. 

I have always loved Christmas. I even love the tired and frustrated cashiers…because, I know that at the end of the day…they are trying to get it done just like everybody else. As followers of Christ, we have to be able to represent Him wherever we go…even when we are standing in long lines!

But, for the last couple of years it hasn’t been the same, and what I used to enjoy is now becoming more of a chore. We have had so many losses, and changes in my family that I am beginning to struggle with the thought of the holidays coming. On the one hand, I love everything about the holidays…especially Christmas. I have always loved watching Christmas movies, singing Christmas  songs, and even baking Christmas cookies. Now, it all just makes me realize how much we have lost, and how different everything will be from now on.

But even with feeling the way I do, I still believe the words in Nehemiah 8:10  when it says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” We will get our joy back. We will get our peace back. We will get back everything the enemy has tried to take from us, because that’s how our God works. Nobody can take what God has decreed belongs to us.

Although change is hard, especially when it involves a loss, we can trust that God has a blessing right in the midst of it. Even knowing that, coming to terms with it is still not easy. Trying to pick up our lives, and move on knowing that nothing in our lives will ever be the same is difficult. But, this year I will be working hard to embrace this new chapter with an open mind knowing that with God’s help I can do anything.

Until next time…

Be blessed