Relief From Troubled Times

This is the Christmas letter I sent to our class this year. Thought I would share it on the blog. Merry Christmas!

 December 2020

Merry Christmas Joy Class! It has been a while since last gathering together in Sunday School and how I miss gathering, but more so, how much I miss y’all! Some of us were able to gather and paint Christmas barn quilts and each of us remarked, the joy in seeing one another, the joy of laughing together and the joy sharing prayer requests and praises for answered prayer.

This summer in the midst of all this COVID-19 stuff, I found myself mainly reading in the Psalms. I needed the comfort of God’s Word and having the assurance of His presence. The passage that I kept going back to is in Psalm 94, verse 13

You give them relief from troubled times.

We have certainly seen troubled times both in our country and in our lives. Roy wasn’t able to travel for the first six months of the year with directives from his company and the state of Texas.  I had to stop watching the news because it upset me so. All the protesting and some would say riots in Asheville this summer, was a little too close to home. Anxiety and worry would preoccupy my thoughts and then I remembered, God gives relief in troubled times. His relief came in expected and unexpected ways, but always through His Word.

Now we are in the midst of a different kind of Christmas season. The activities and parties and music we are so used to being a part of, is really for this year, a memory. People are approaching Christmas differently and creatively. Decorations went up sooner for some, more than usual decorations went up for some and others don’t quite have the energy or desire to decorate.

Psalm 94:13 keeps me comforted and then as I turn toward Advent and Christmas, Luke 2: 18-19 filled out that verse I carried in my heart and mind. The shepherds have come to the manger, in Bethlehem, to see Jesus. The scripture says that after seeing Jesus, the shepherds told everyone what had happened, with the angel and then seeing the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The people that heard the story from the shepherds were astonished and this….

But Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

This Christmas, might be a little quieter and subdued. We can be like Mary, keeping the wonders of this season, treasuring them in our hearts. Let’s think about them often. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see miracles in the everyday. Treasure the joys of the season, with or without the usual accoutrements. Let God speak to you in the little things. Ask Him how you might serve Him and others that might look differently this year.

Merry Christmas Dear Friends