If you are reading this, I am thankful for you! I’m giving thanks to God for you because you’re not just like me. No one in the world is just like me. And no one is a replica of you either.
It’s because we’re not just alike that you help me learn and grow and become more of a well rounded person. Just by being uniquely you, and interacting with me, you help me become a better person. Since you have persevered through life experiences of which I’m unfamiliar, you teach me compassion and how to be a better listener.
You help me to be shaped much more in the image of Christ, our Creator. “How is that?,” you might wonder. It happens simply by you being you, and me being me, in community with each other. I grow in wisdom and maturity as I accept you as unique and choose to appreciate our differences.
So, if you’re living a bit downhearted and scared right now, take heart God is with you, and He is for you. We all know, and need to admit, there’s a lot of scary in the world with all the political rangling, wars, and rumors of wars, changing policies, and maybe even the idea of the holidays up close with family.
However, look up! Look up and fix your eyes to God in heaven. He is greater than any election or political party or government system or family dynamic. He is good. And His goodness far exceeds the totality of the scary happenings of this world.
Don’t give up on friends and family over the different ideals we each hold dear. Relationships with loved ones are far too important and significant to our healthy living. We all actually need a potpourri of people in our lives to make us more well rounded and interesting.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Healthy boundaries are good too. So, instead of avoiding awkward conversations and encounters this holiday season, create some rules of engagement. Here are a few ideas I’m determined to employ:
- Be a good listener. Prepare in advance through prayer and thanksgiving to listen more and talk less.
- Desire to learn one new thing about each person you encounter through holiday gatherings.
- If certain meeting places foster hurtful behavioral patterns, choose a neutral location to gather.
- Create a memory by choosing an activity or destination.
- Ask your dear ones to keep conversations revolving around mutually edifying topics.
- Find out how someone is triggered and just lay that conversation aside. Or, if appropriate, take the opportunity to apologize and ask forgiveness.
- Learn a family member’s love language, and then gift them with it.
- Incorporate a new tradition of praying together, counting blessings, reading scripture or reading a beloved story together. Write a play and act it out. Do what the youngest person suggests.
- Go outside. Take walks together. Look at the beauty in creation.
““Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Jeremiah 33:2-3 ESV
Maybe you’re not so sure about God. Perhaps you used to be close with Him. Or you just don’t know what it means to believe. That’s okay too. Your uncertainty doesn’t change His love for you, or His power to forgive. He wants to adopt you into His family if you agree.
So, here’s the main point. Don’t isolate from people. Please don’t isolate from human beings who think differently, believe, or voted differently. Risk relationships. Risk putting yourself in situations that feel uncomfortable because you’ll grow, and learn in the process.
The holidays are here! Everyone, all people, just want to experience some joy and gratitude during these days that can feel so hard. Let’s do this together. Let’s pause, and give thanks for our family and friends, and for a country that allows us to live freely, think freely, and speak freely. Let’s offer each other tons of grace and welcome everyone with love, respect and kindness.
Let us look up and fix our gaze upon the One who loves the world and gave Himself up as a living sacrifice so that we all get to enjoy an inner peace, walk in hope, and radiate His love.
Eyes on Jesus and Shine,
Lisa
Michele,
Thank you for stopping in, staking time to bless me with your comments . Merry Christmas 🎄
I appreciate the truth that when our relationship with Christ is our primary and foundational connection, all the other relationships somehow function more smoothly.
Thank you for reminding me of my own words. I needed to remember this today. God is with us. He loves us. Merry Christmas 🎁
I like what you said about taking heart because God is with us, Lisa. A simple yet life-changing truth that reminds us again of who He is to us and how very much present He is.
Thank you for being here. Please keep writing. Merry Christmas, Joanne!
Lisa, I am so very grateful for the people who have crossed my path, both in real life and online. You are so right, we benefit from one another. We can encourage and give one another the little push needed to keep on going. Similarities and differences can cause growth to occur.
Absolutely! I grew up in a potpourri of cultures and ethnicities. I loved the beauty of variety. It made me richer and more well rounded. My parents taught hospitality and my favorite activity to this day is sitting at a table with people, listening to their stories.
My prayer is that we cultivate relationships again- face to face.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Merry Christmas!
Lovely perspective, Lisa. My grandfather used to say, “It takes all kinds to make world.”