35 results for tag: Christmas

What Child is This?

One of my favorite Christmas songs is What Child Is This? This haunting melody draw me in to reflect on the lowly humanity of Christ and then worship Him as Savior. Come reflect with me for a moment on the humanity of Christ and the world into which He was born. It is in this lowly humanness that we can find deep comfort and hope during a holiday season made more painful by the loss of a child. “What Child is this who, laid to rest On Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, While shepherds watch are keeping? Who is this who lives with the lowly, Sharing their sorrows, knowing their hunger? This is Christ, ...

Motivated By Love

I was eight and a half months pregnant that first Christmas in my grief. Just four months before, we had received a diagnosis for our unborn son that left us knowing that, barring a miracle from God, we’d be saying goodbye to him way sooner than we ever imagined. There was something so significant that year about being pregnant at Christmastime. I had low energy, both physically and emotionally, and so in some ways Christmas became a little bit simpler. But, honestly, it became a little bit more meaningful too. I would go about my days, obviously with child, and I would think about what we were about to celebrate: Christmas. The birth of Jesus. ...

Hope for the Hurting this Christmas

The people of Israel were waiting for the coming of the promised Messiah. They were living under the threat of the Assyrians, who would later bring the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity, when the prophet Isaiah delivered news of a child who would come to dissipate the darkness and redeem the world from sin. This birth announcement was a glimmer of hope in the midst of the fear and sorrow. “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 We live in the space between the ...

The Suffering Servant Has Come

As I approach Christmas, I can feel that there is—inherently—a sense of longing that swells this season, especially having lost my child on this earth. I have a biblical longing for all to be made right, for the gap between this world and the next to be gone, for the righteous King of all to return—not as a baby this time, but as the One coming on the clouds carrying all victory over sin and death. The reality that this world is missing what I most desire is all the more pronounced through my unique, acute, and raw awareness of how empty this life can feel. And yet—do you feel the rush of this season too? I don't mean the rush of mall vis...

A Release from Remembering

November arrives and as the holidays come within reach, I feel a near physical ache. Holidays have a built in nostalgia—have you ever noticed that? Reflection is inherent in the joy of a holiday celebration. We look back on the year and remember its highs and lows; we take pictures to capture our family and friends as they are right now, so we can remember in years to come. We reflect and remember, and for grievers there is an inescapable wondering that happens at the holidays. We remember what we have lost. What would she have wanted for Christmas this year? How big would I have been with the baby by now? These are questions that linger in my ...

To Gaze on the Christ-Child

One silent night, over 2,000 years ago, God came to the earth as a baby. Immanuel. God with us. A baby who came to live so he could die, and would die so we could live. This is the hope of Christmas. This is the hope of Christ. But when your heart is broken and bleeding and the sting of commercial holiday cheer intensifies it all, that hope may not bring much comfort. Not because the Christ-child is not enough, but because we push what is offered away. The lights glisten on the tree. The stockings hang over the fire. Familiar tunes are sung about joy and being merry. While the world is writing lists long with desires of the newest ...

Light in the Darkness

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shown.” Isaiah 9:2 Does it feel as though God is silent or distant? Does it seem like the Christmas season only reminds you of the ache in your heart for the ones you wished were with you? Do you wonder if God will breathe life into the broken places of your heart, or if there will ever be a day where it won’t feel so dark? You are not alone in those questions, fears, and silent cries for God to not feel so silent. In fact, for 400 years the people of Israel felt those same questions stirring in their souls. The God who ...

Hymns of Hope: Joy to the World

When it seems as though the whole world is intent on joyful celebrations, Christmas movie marathons, winter wonderlands, and gift exchanges, it can be hard to imagine how your grief fits into all of the merriment around you. But one thing we often forget in all of the holiday bustle is that the Christmas story is intertwined with sorrow. God's people had endured years of oppression and hardship and 400 years of silence from God. They were under Roman occupation and longed for the coming of the Messiah that had been promised long ago. Jesus was coming to a burdened, waiting, and hurting people. Even the magnificence of the birth of Christ was tinged ...

Christmas Day – Reign

“For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 Our sovereign God preordained the birth of a Savior to a virgin; He has preordained your first breath; and He has preordained the precious—yet short—life of your child. Today, you will mourn the missing piece of your heart. You, loved one, desire to hear those tiny feet pad to your room bright and early, long to listen to the miniature voice praise “Glory! Glory!”, so deeply want to watch small fingers pull on the festive ribbon, ...

Christmas Eve – Rain

“… the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.’” Luke 1:27-31 Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus, our Savior. She was called to carry, birth, and mother the Messiah. What a weighty responsibility that is to uphold. Her graceful response to His calling on her life is one ...