Dear loved ones,
This letter almost didn’t make it this year, I could hardly get the words down. As I read through some of my Christmas letters from the past, I was reminded that every year comes with its struggles, but this year felt unusually heavy. Rather than a family update, I wanted to share about both the pain and the miracles of Christmas.
Please know that my family is well and while we have all shared precious moments together, we have all experienced individual ups and downs. Scott and I have enjoyed some amazing adventures but also faced difficult battles. Through it all we have continually clung to the hope of Jesus Christ. Since hope is at the core of Christmas, it will also be at the core of this letter.
Let me start by sharing that I have experienced disappointment and pain, I have witnessed both deep grief this year and mighty miracles. I have felt the burden and ache of my own loss and that of others dear to my heart. But God has shown up in ways unimaginable. The miracles I witnessed this year would take too long to describe in a letter, but they did not come without great pain. It seems that miracles are born through pain, and the birth of Jesus Christ is no exception.
The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed in 735 B.C., “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel,” (Isaiah 7:14). 700 years later Mary conceived, but what happened in between? The Israelites experienced captivity and exile throughout those long years, faced with God’s silence for most of it. Under Roman rule at the time, they endured significant challenges and surely struggled to maintain hope. They must have felt disappointment and pain through those years, ever wondering if the prophecy would be fulfilled.
While I do not know the reason for the wait or why we sometimes suffer so, I know that God is good, and He has a plan and purpose in everything He does and allows, He is Emmanuel, God with us. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” If He had a purpose in the pain and suffering that the Israelites experienced through those years, then I know that He also has a purpose and a plan for the pain we experience today.
When the angel Gabrielle paid Mary a visit she could have refused, after all we have free will. She could have run away overcome by fear; her words instead were, “may it be done to me according to your word,” (Luke 1:38). In Luke 2:19 we are told that she pondered all that was happening in her heart. Mary held fast to the promises of God through her son despite the pain that was still to come. Throughout this Christmas season, I hope to follow Mary’s example and hold fast to what matters most, to relish in the moments with friends and family, to be ever present throughout the season and to hold onto the hope in Christ.
As we venture into 2025, I pray for hope over your households, healing over broken hearts, and peace over calamity. In the darkest moments I encourage you to remember Emmanuel – God with us. Below is a poem written to honor those who have had an especially difficult year.
Merry Christmas! God bless you all!
Christmas Hope
For the hearts that have been broken, and the joy that’s been stolen.
For the tables with empty chairs, and the burdens left to bear.
For the dreams that have ceased, and the moments without peace.
Cling to Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals!
For those struggling to get by, and the cries throughout the night.
For the people no one sees, the hungry, hurting, and the weak.
For those who feel forgotten, for the weary and downtrodden.
To El Roi, the God who sees, appeal!
For a Savior now has come, The Christ child, God’s only Son.
He came, this world to save, and through His life endure our pain.
Through Him hope is found, and His glory is renowned.
God is with us, Emmanuel!