Christmas time for most of us is a time of mixed feelings as we think about those we have lost in the past years

 

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28

The year 2020 has been like no other year that I would just assume to forget.  The losses of friends we knew keeps piling  up on top of all of those  other losses which leads to a deeper sense of sadness. That Christmas you remember experiencing with your now deceased parents come flooding back with waves of tears flowing endlessly down your cheeks.  You try to be happy for your own children's sake so their Christmas can be filled with memories to look back on. 

 Each new generation, it seems, has to accept the loss of loved ones so they can move forward making memories with those still among us.  When I was a child, our family celebrated Christmas with the relatives in our mom's home town of Ronneby, Minnesota.  

There was one family that traveled quite a bit on the account of their dad being in the military.  For some reason they did not have gifts for their kids.  Mom took us 3 kids aside and explain their predicament and then mentioned that we can make their Christmas special by giving their parents some of our gifts so they could give to their children. My initial reaction was, "why" as if the selfish part of me wanted all the toys. 

When I look back at that Christmas time, mom and dad taught us a valuable lesson which was it was better to give than to receive. 

As time traveled on I lost more friends and family members. Each new loss brought on a new stream of tears as I remembered the parts they had played in my life.  

The gift we gave to our cousins doesn't compare to the gift that God gave us in the birth of of a baby boy  who would later become the savior of the world.  Today, there are so many people, young and old, crying out for hope in this crazy corona virus world which we will one day know as the great pandemic of 2020.  

It's hard to put your life you have always known it on hold to reduce the community spread of this dangerous virus, but I'm reminded whenever I talk to a emergency room health care worker how dangerous this virus really is  and that we do need to listen to the World Health Organization and the CDC and their recommendations of wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth, social distancing, and washing our hands. 

 These are the things that will keep us all safe until the majority of us can become vaccinated.  For those who continue to be in denial and want to believe the conspiracy theories, all I can say your are putting your lives and the lives of your loved ones at risk.

 I believe the recent development of the vaccine for this virus is in itself another miracle from God.  As one person said in my early morning men 's Zoom meeting, " Entrepreneurship is at it's best when crisis like these occur."  He is right. Since the beginning of this pandemic, our medical community have learn new techniques that have saved the lives of people. Our scientific community also came through with several proven vaccines which will  allow our country to eventually  resume normal activity like we had known before, but we cannot in good conscious let our guard down.

The hope I have this Christmas season is knowing my living and breathing Savior who comforts me through his word. I know that God is with us in this storm, just as He was with his disciples on the stormy sea.  

If you are feeling sad this Christmas season, I encourage you to make a list of the many blessings in your life and then thank God for being there for you during those times.   I encourage you to consider getting involved in a grief share group to help you work through the emotional pain of your grief. Remember, the amount of pain you feel is a reflection of the love you had for the person who died.  https://www.griefshare.org/