As the holiday season ramps up, I hear a "breathlessness" in so many of my friends and loved ones. Packages to wrap, family to host, gifts yet to purchase, the chaos of shuffling travel plans at the last minute due to COVID status and I am reminded that life is in the breath. We LITERALLY can squeeze the joy out of ourselves by not taking a moment to BREATHE in the wonder and possibilities that the Christmas season brings. As children, the excitement tended to build up around the memories we were going to make as a FAMILY and not the perceived drudgery of making those special moments happen. Let's see if we can breathe IN that childlike wonder AGAIN as we EXHALE feelings of being overwhelmed or outmatched by what should be a joyous season. When we focus on CHRIST and telling His story, we grab hold again of the wonderment that is Christ*mas--More Christ! When you light your candles, say your prayers, retell stories of Christmases past, remember to include just a snatch of time for those of us mourning the loss of children who will not physically be at any of the hectically prepared celebrations. There are hundreds of thousands this year alone that won't have their first Christmas...Let's stop and breathe for them.
May God richly bless you this season and always. And as you stare up at tonight's "Bethlehem star"
remembering our Savior who is Christ the Lord and all that He came to redeem by being born.
Much love, Sylvia
P.S. I wrote a new poem for Mom's and Dad's missing children. Check it out on the "Arise Artists" group page. Look for the "Group" tab in the banner at the very top of the main page.
