The snow has finally fallen, Christmas decorations are up, shopping for gifts has begun and it seems all is well in our household. I'm nearing the end of my school semester, we are accumulating donated gifts for the kids for ICYA's Christmas party, and practising the inevitable Christmas pageant at church. Family is starting to make travelling plans and phone calls get more frequent as we finish off those details.
Yet, there are some that I can't get out of my mind these days: Arthur, an adult friend of ours who's father just died, and can't help feeling so alone in this world. Teresa, a missionary youth pastor at a nearby church, who just found out her support has dropped to 28% just in time for the holidays. Shelly, an eleven year old, and her four younger sisters, who are still living in limbo with their grandpa right now as their mom's "in a bad place right now," they tell me.
It's not that I want to be depressed over the holidays, it's that, maybe for the first time, I'm starting to "get" why its hard for others. And sometimes there's things we can do: Shelly and her sisters are part of the group that gets together with me once a week, and the things their mom isn't doing with them, like baking Christmas cookies, wrapping presents or reading stories, we can do a little bit of together. We can't prevent Arthur from being lonely, but we can make an effort to call him, or visit, more often than we have. I can't fix Teresa's finances, but I can encourage her.
I guess what it all comes down to, is a profound sense of thankfulness for the riches I have: a family, a home, friends, security, financial support at 100%, a job I enjoy and opportunities for education. It also comes down to a sense of calling: I am God's hands and feet within my small circles. I am not going to reach every motherless child, every struggling family, every lonely person, but God's calling is not so overwhelming as to paralyze - it's just enough to make us look to Him to make it possible.
Merry Christmas
No comments:
Post a Comment