I hope you all are having a wonderful Holiday Season and you all have a blessed Christmas. This month’s blog entry will be a poem that I wrote; I hope it brings you comfort and strength, though this time of year is a joyous time for many, many others suffer alone and in silence. Behind closed doors are individuals who can’t climb out of their depression. Suffering with depression is lonely enough, and the holidays can be a lonely time. When combined they can feel overwhelming, but I’m here to reassure you that you’re never alone and the light of this beautiful season is inside of you. 

                                                      “A Torn yet Magical Christmas”

That time of year is here, once again, when the lights adorn the streets, and even in the midst of this broken world, you believe in magic, and the beauty of the Season. When families gather around the tree and sing carols of the three kings and so many more. When memories are made, and cherished for a lifetime. Yet all the while, while many sing of cheer, so many are on their knees, holding onto a thread of hope, and onto every prayer. So many don’t feel the magic, so many feel they have nothing to hope for, and they don’t believe in dreams anymore. This time of year can bring up so many deep-seated memories that bring pain and sadness. 

I have learned Christmas is more; Christmas is so much more than what is given, what is exchanged. When our lives are tattered and torn, when our bodies are worn and broken down. When people we love are not near, it’s a comfort to know we can always cling to the love of our Savior, who came into this world as a baby. The greatest gift to ever be given. Christmas is so much more, more than tattered and torn wrapping paper on Christmas morn, more than the parties, more than the money, that’s all in the here and now, it’s not promised us, does not love us back, cannot embrace us, when tears are upon our cheeks. We may not feel like we are in a Christmas spirit, but Christmas is so much more, it’s the beauty and the wonder, it’s memories that are cherished for years to come. 

I’m not wishing for more, when so many have so much less. I’m not waiting for dreams to come true, I’m counting every blessing and making each one count! We may not have our own tree this year, and money was tight, but I feel rich inside, for the blessings have outnumbered the struggles. I may be worn out, but I am renewed knowing that Christmas is so much more than what we open on Christmas morn.