Hope: The Reason We Celebrate
Nine. Nine Christmases without my baby boy. Nine years of slowly driving around town, sipping hot chocolate, looking at Christmas lights, and wondering which house would be his favorite. Nine years of walking down the boy toy aisle at Target and choking back tears. Nine years of feeling like a big part of my heart is missing during the holidays.
As a grieving mother, it feels like pain and sadness just come out of nowhere, especially during the holidays. If you’ve had to excuse yourself from a party because you just can’t seem to hold back the tears anymore, you are not alone. If looking a teeny, tiny Christmas jammies have made you start weeping in the middle of Walmart, I have been there. I have learned many things over the past nine Christmases as a Hope Mommy, but one of the most valuable lessons has been that I have a choice. I can choose the thoughts that I let consume my heart and my mind. I can choose to live in despair, or I can choose to live in the hope that I have in Christ! How do I make the choice to turn my focus to that hope? I fix my eyes on God’s Word. I study Scripture and let its truth continually wash over my soul.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5
I was recently asked what I thought Christmas meant for the effects of original sin. My answer was simple. Hope. We know that Eve’s discontentment and desire to be lord of her own life led to the fall of man. Because of her decision, we are all born into sin. We now live in a world full of suffering, pain, and hardship. But before the foundation of the world, God had a plan. This plan’s name was Jesus, and 2000 years ago, He was born in the most humble of ways. He lived a perfect life and spilled His blood on the cross to pay for our sin. Because of this reality, we can have hope in knowing that this is not the end. As believers of Christ, we can hold onto the truth that one day our pain and suffering will be no more and we will be reunited with those that are already in the presence of our Savior. This hope is the reason we celebrate Christmas!
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:24-25
Nine. Nine Christmases that my baby boy has spent in the presence of the One whose birth is the the reason for the season. Nine years of savoring and enjoying the holidays with a new perspective about what’s truly important. Nine years of longing for heaven in a way that makes the incarnation of Jesus even sweeter. For nine years my heart has been overflowing with thankfulness for the gift of Isaac Preston, my son.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5
I’m praying for you, sweet mommy, that during this Christmas season you are able to fix your gaze on the One whose birth we are celebrating. I pray that whether this is your first or your twentieth year missing your precious little one, that the hope you have in Him would fill your heart with a joy and peace that is indescribable!
- Kacie Hunt
Hope Mom to Isaac
Kacie lives in Austin, Texas, and is the mommy of three precious daughters on earth and a sweet baby boy in heaven. She loves reading, coffee dates with her husband, Jonathan, and traveling with her family. She is passionate about helping women grow in biblical literacy and theology and is the cohost of the Adorned Podcast. She also blogs at www.kaciehunt.com.
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