Christmas is meant to be a joyful time but it may not be so for those who are spending the holidays without their children.
Parents lose their children every day. Many are lost to the epidemic of addiction. For others, divorced seperates them from their children at the holidays.
If that’s where you are this Christmas season, here are some suggestions from Meg Bucher writing in Crosswalk.com:
1. Remember, They are His. When they are not near us, we can trust in prayer that He loves and protects them.
2. Give Him the Pain. When we lift up the burdens of our hearts to Him in prayer, He promises to hear us and help us.
3. Seek Him Each Morning Each day may bring new waves of fresh hurt, but moments with the Father at daybreak allow joy to weave hope back into our circumstances. Jesus is the key to finding peace in trying times.
And Bucher adds this prayer:
Thank you, Father, for the gift of parenthood. In a mighty way, we get to peek into Your heart, and understand the love of our Father. For all of the joy that children bring to our hearts, we thank you. Even in the trials and frustrations of parenthood, the joy in their eyes and happiness in their laughter fills our hearts to the brim.
You promise us that there will be things we do not understand in this life, and that there will be pain. It’s hard to see past pain and onto the hope you give us in Jesus. This Christmas, the void will seem unfillable. The pain unbearable. Send your Spirit of comfort as we cry out to you.