Facing The Holidays~Part Two

Continued from last week's post...

Each reader has his own story to tell. For some this is your first holiday season since being falsely accused, and you’re probably in the same frame of mind as were we. Life remains forever altered, but it does go on. We all grieve. We all must, yet each handles grief in his own way and time. If you need to shed tears, do. We did, and in doing so gave our boys the liberty to hurt and cry as well. What a release! What a gift!

I believe God grieved that very first Christmas two millenniums ago. He knew His Son faced rejection, ridicule, false accusations, and death. For the first time I empathized with Jesus and understood how greatly He felt our pain. 

If you’re of the Jewish faith, your celebration centers on a miracle as well. The Maccabees fought against a wicked tyrannical king. They won, reclaiming Jerusalem. The Temple needed cleansing. There they witnessed the miracle of one day’s oil supply lasting eight. Hanukkah—a wonderful reminder of hope amongst impossible hardships!

Miracles exist, bringing with them the promise of hope and peace. Looking toward your holiday may bring emotions you never associated with it before. That’s okay. Remember—the ones who lived through those holy days went through the same feelings you have now. They grieved yet survived to tell their stories. So have many others! So will you!

(originally published November 1999)

Moonbow~Promise in the Night

On the southern border of southeastern Kentucky you can hike to the Cumberland Falls and see something not found elsewhere in the whole western hemisphere. A moonbow! Now don’t pull on your hiking boots just yet. The moonbow is only visible around the time of full moons and in certain weather conditions.

God gives us rainbows to remind us of promise after storms…then He went even further and gave us rainbows in the night!   That amazes me! Promise in darkness.  

Brian and I well remember “nights” of our lives—when our firstborn chose the prodigal path, when war sent our three sons into battle, when our youngest was diagnosed with even more challenges, and when we learned Brian’s “episodes” were mini-strokes. We will share some of those “night” experiences with you here, as will others who have hoped and seen God’s promises fulfilled.

You are not alone—no way, no how! Countless folks pass through “nights,” not realizing there’s that “moonbow of promise,” leading to Hope. Are you looking for Hope in the night?

  

‘Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me
   and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD.  Jeremiah 29:12-14

Wow! That’s Hope!