DECEMBER 18
Take up and Read:
Encourage One Another:
Only 7 more sleeps! If there is a child in your life, you know how close we're getting. We hope the anticipatory joy is contagious, and that you, too, are singing and smiling.
As the Christmas season approaches, grownups tend to take a rather more somber view of the next week than children do. Partly, we know what it is to be disappointed when our hopes and dreams don't quite meet reality. Partly, we've learned that this season of joy provides a stark contrast to sorrow, thereby highlighting it for us and making us ever more aware.
Consider for a moment today, what lies beyond Christmas Day. As you look ahead to the new year, what fears do those blank calendar pages hold? Has disappointment crept in even before the new year has begun? How is He calling you to trust in His plans and His perfect timing for your dearly held dreams?
Whatever God calls us to, we pray to do it faithfully, so that even when life is hard we are mindful that the Savior was born into this life and the hope we seek has come! We hope that means that you, too, can smile into this new week the way the children do.