This blog originally posted on Dec. 8, 2017.
It is nearly impossible to escape the heaviness of our time. Fires in California. Shootings. Famine. Wars. Slavery. Hurricanes. Rampant sexual abuse. It is all so much. After the kids go down to bed, I scroll through Facebook and after ten minutes, my heart aches. Sometimes, I’m paralyzed by what I read. I feel helpless, unable to assist in any situation, but you know what, I’m not. Neither are you. We can do something.
This Christmas, I’m decorating gingerbread houses with my kids AND fasting for freedom in Libya. I’m watching classic Christmas movies AND preparing gifts for children in war-torn parts of the world. I’m lining up for the Christmas parade with my kids AND partnering with friends to help a young man transition out of homelessness. I’m throwing a Christmas party for my girlfriends AND walking with a friend as she stands against sexual abuse. We may not be able to do everything but we can do SOMETHING.
May this Christmas come and find our hearts ablaze with love for the King and his people, the broken ones, the hurting ones. Freedom for our world starts with us, the hope givers, the truth tellers, the lovers of justice, engaging with issues that plague our world. It is all so much so I encourage you, this year, what is ONE thing you can do for the brokenness that breaks your heart? Do all the Christmasy things but don’t shy away from the hard things. Hold them together. Embrace them and allow Christ to use you to bring redemption in ways you might never have imagined.
I believe in you, dear reader. I believe that you are hand-crafted for greatness, to be a conduit of hope and love, goodness and peace.