This Time Of Year....

 

This has been a particularly difficult Christmas, as I wasn't able to be with my parents who live over 700 miles away, as well as my daughter who lives even farther...so needless to say I am glad that Christmas is over.

 

Christmas, actually has not been the best time of year for me for a long time...but yet it does keep me mindful of the many people in this world that have a very difficult time at Christmas too. I'm sorry to put a damper on your holidays, but I would ask that you take a moment and pray for the people around you that may not have a smile on their face during this time of year.

 

Unfortunately, there are more people experiencing deep depression as well as committing suicide during this time of year than at any other time. As a person who has experienced depression I can say that it feels like you're drowning. Everyone gets the blues, but a tendency toward a deeper "blueness"...or depression can truly rob a person of so much.

 

 During this time of year God has been bringing home to me what it means to trust Him with my whole heart...to climb up onto His lap and snuggle up and just be with my Father. Yet, there are many people who don't know that they can do this. They don't know that there is Someone much bigger then they are that loves them.

 

 Please take some time and ask the Lord to use you in the lives of those around you this coming year...those whom you notice at the store or at work who need to be shown mercy and God's love. Who need to be introduced to the Great Physician...the One who came to save them in more ways than one.

 

Yes, I am almost positive that there will be people that you'll run into either in line at the grocery store, at the bank or at work who has cried and asked God to show them that He exists...that He is there. So every smile or caring gesture you impart may very well be the one thing that makes the difference in some one's life. But even if someone you meet or stand next to hasn't prayed that prayer ~ you better believe that God will use your show of love for His glory...and it will bring you even closer in your growth to becoming more like Christ!

 

Eph. 4:15

Instead, we will lovingly speak the truth, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.