Merry Christmas. You are in my thoughts as I get ready to bring a close to Christmas 2012. This year has been one filled with challenges and great joy. Side by side. Pain and healing. Tough times and times so wonderful they take your breath away. Isn’t life like that? A study in contrasts.
Yet through it all, whether your Christmas has been peaceful or beautiful or tough, there is always hope. Hope is what sustains us when the going gets tough; it can energize us when we are exhausted; it can motivate us to try to get it better next time. My prayer for you this Christmas is Hope; always Hope that God will show Himself faithful to you and to your life and to the challenges you are facing.
Today, after a Christmas meal, and opening of presents, a group of us went to see Le Miserables. This may be my fifth or sixth time to see either a live performance or a movie of this book, and it never fails to move me. Tears flowed, and my heart responded to the idea that life is about second chances and new beginnings and hope. At the end of the movie, redemption and peace is found, and this remarkable truth is shared, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”
Praying that you will love those that God has placed in your life in 2012. Thankful for you and for every moment we have shared this year.
Merry Christmas from the heart.
Susie
Note: We will be working this Saturday, December 29th from 9-6 p.m., and will reopen for 2013 on Wednesday, January 2nd. Happy New Year!