Well, we're well into our Christmas season by now! Tree decorating, church bazaars, early Christmas shopping, even some snow fell here in the Northwest! Yes, the Christmas season is a time of celebration for friends and family, and for those of us at college, coming home and enjoying the yearly festivities and traditions is a break from cramming knowledge in our heads that we truly needed.

However, for many, Christmas season is a time of mourning.

Coming home I decided to stop by my eldest sister's house as I had an important letter for my niece (my girlfriend is penpals with my niece). The route Siri took me on was a pleasant one. The road was just off the freeway in the middle of nowhere. A stretch of pavement that takes you deep into the heart of the Northwest, through all the tiny towns that dot throughout the area. Anyways, as I passed through one town, I came to the edge of it, seeing a graveyard. Every town has one. The road wound around the bend the graveyard was on, and at a certain angle, I noticed footprints in the snow leading up to a gravestone. I hypothesized someone was visiting a passed loved one who had died around that time of year as it's a habit we humans have to visit those who have passed on the anniversary of their death.

How sad is it that a loved one passed away during Christmas season? To think this has happened to millions of billions of people over the years and continues to happen. Not to mention our military still in active duty during this time. Yes, it seems there are hundreds of reasons the Christmas season is not the most wonderful time of the year. For someone like me, it's sad to think about it. I'm among the lucky ones. Sometimes I wish I wasn't. I'm a sympathetic person, so wanting to understand someone else's pain has been a constant in my life. I hate seeing people sad. It's just not what God wanted for us. Even so, God enacted his second plan: Jesus Christ. He wanted to salvage what was left of us after sin ran amok.

Now, it is speculated Jesus was born and died within the same season. So technically, God lost His Son at Christmas time. So even though I can't understand the pain of Christmas being a time of mourning, God can! So if you've lost a loved one at this time of year, I am truly sorry for your loss, and am truly sorry I cannot begin to understand what you are going through. But God can. So please, turn to God at this time. If nothing else, simply thank the Lord for His son at this time of year, that He in all His love for us has given us a way to see our loved ones again one day.

God Bless, and have a very Merry Christmas.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 NKJV

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.

Psalm 30:11 NKJV