Daughters of Promise November/December 2014 | Page 29

THE WEARY

HEART
finding
meaning and
hope in your
dark
holiday.

THE WORLD WHISPERED COLD

a few days
before Christmas. A time when it seemed everyone
else was rejoicing in the love of family and friends, I felt
lost. Pulling my coat tighter from the wind, ignoring the
Christmas jingles and merrymakers, I walked slowly in
the falling snow. Christmas did not feel like Christmas
that year; my nose and heart numb, every lit tree and
every carol were a reminder to me that my life was
not right.
Maybe this is you right now? You dread the holidays
because of a loss, a new complicated season or a sad
turn of events. The questions, the pain, the unfulfilled
longings shout loudly demanding to be answered.
There is no silent night for your heart this winter.
Perhaps you are serving in the mission field; the heat
and the new culture make you want to board every
plane you see flying overhead (oh yeah, I’ve been
there). You are a new bride in a new community
and a trip home isn’t going to happen; it’s the first
Christmas you ever spent away from your family.
You feel misplaced, uprooted. Or maybe you have
to go home to your family, and you dread it. It’s no

Hallmark card around your fami