Hope for the Holidays {Hope Came Down}

How can I feel joy when I’m just so sad?  How can I enjoy Christmas when my baby was suppose to be here?  How do I go on when my heart is broken?  I hear you, sweet mommas, and I understand.

On December 21st, my daughter will turn 6. There will be no trip to the American Doll store. We won’t go get her first pedicure. She won’t unwrap any presents. We’ve never done any of those things because Kinley has celebrated every birthday in heaven. So, I will do what I do every year–I will make pink cupcakes. I will sing happy birthday. And I will miss my sweet girl. Then 4 days later, we will celebrate Christmas, and her stocking will hang empty, untouched, as the other stockings are taken down and rummaged through.

A sad story to be sure. A dark cloud on the holiday season. Except for one thing I forgot to mention. One thing that flips this whole scene upside down. One element threaded through this story that changes everything.

Another baby who was born on earth with a mother who would say goodbye too soon.

JESUS

When Jesus came down to earth, Hope entered the world. Perfect hope embodied in His birth, death, and resurrection.

The promise of eternity with my precious daughter because of redemption offered by my Precious Savior.

Let’s go back to the manger.

No, wait.

Let’s take it further back than that. Let’s go to the garden. Adam and Eve had just eaten the fruit, ushering sin into God’s perfect creation. There began the plan–God’s plan of redemption: a Savior (Genesis 3:15). God’s people waited as God’s prophets foretold of the Savior’s coming.  The people expected a mighty king, position, and prestige to elevate their nation. Eyes were not on Bethlehem. They were not expecting the King of Kings to come in the form of a baby born in a stable. But that’s exactly how Jesus entered the world. His life on earth consisted of a lowly birth, 33 years of serving and pointing others to God, an agonizing death, and finally, a glorious resurrection.

I’m sure that was not Mary’s plan. I’m certain that is not the future she envisioned for her firstborn son. But the payment for sin, for our sin, is death. And God, out of His great love for us, sent His only Son to pay the price of sin, so that we, with our hope babies, would have forever with Him.

So how do you have joy this Christmas?

You claim God’s Word, God’s message of truth and hope for you.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
-1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

That’s our future! That’s our hope − 0ur little ones risen in Christ! Eternity with them and our awesome Savior! That is God’s plan of redemption. Praise God! For those that are in Christ, our future is not sad Christmases, missed milestones, and unfulfilled dreams. It’s not death and despair. Death has not won.

“He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;”
-Isaiah 25:8

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death.
Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction?”
-Hosea 13:14

Our God is victorious!  There is nothing and no one that can take our hope from us. He has defeated death, and through salvation, we are sealed in Christ.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.”
-Ephesians 1:13-14

Are you sealed in Christ?  Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior?  Have you said yes to God’s redemption?  He is your hope. Not just for the holidays but forever. Embrace that hope today.

We take nothing away from our hope babies by celebrating our Savior this Christmas and everyday for that matter. We can choose to not let sadness consume us and honor them in our joy. Hope came down to earth in the form of a baby–the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, the Savior of the world.

So as I celebrate my daughter’s birthday this year, I will not focus on what could have been.

I will rejoice in what will be: an eternity with my daughter. Kinley has never known hurt. She has never known sorrow. Kinley has only known Christ.

Know Christ.

Keep Jesus as the focus of your Christmas. Heaven is our home, and our hurt is temporary.

Celebrate Christmas.
Celebrate Jesus.
Celebrate hope.

Death has been defeated and forever awaits! 

Merry Christmas!

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Stephanie Blanks is married to Matt and has four children: Lyston (9), Kinley (who went home to Jesus in 2011), Levi (6), and Leighton (4). Stephanie works at the Chamber of Commerce in her small town of Hondo, TX. She enjoys singing in her church praise band, running, reading, and spending time with her family at the lake. You can read more from Stephanie on her blog.

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