Hope for when the holidays are hard // day one

I have to admit something.  Maybe you’ve felt it, too… especially now in the final countdown to Christmas.

The holidays can be hard.

It’s supposed to be the season of happy and merry, but I think if we’re all honest, we often are carrying something heavy, something difficult, or even messy with us into Christmas.

Perhaps a new layer of grief is unraveled as you prepare to celebrate without a loved one you’ve lost recently… or even many years ago.

Perhaps there is anxiety, conflict or difficult family dynamics that try to replace the joy of the season with frustration or fear.

Perhaps in the season of giving and receiving gifts, the holidays instead give you the twisted gift of comparison, shame or loneliness.  Feelings of lack or disappointment seem to make it impossible to receive what is true and life-giving.

Or maybe perfectionism in the form of stress and busyness leaves you wiped out and unable to tune in to the glory this season truly holds.

The list could go on.  While I wish I could magically remove these hard places that we often find our hearts and minds in during the Christmas season, I’m no fairy godmother with a magic wand.  But I also don’t think we’re left to hopelessly be stuck in these places either.