As we gather with friends and family for Christmas, I want to take a moment to say thank you. Thank you for reading the words God lays on my heart and for blessing me with your words of encouragement and prayers for my family.

Christmas this year is going to be especially hard for us as there will be an empty seat at the table with the passing of my husband’s father. I know we’re not alone in our grief. This has been an incredibly hard year for many of you, too.

But my prayer for you this Christmas is that God would hold you in His love and that there will be a fresh understanding of His Emmanuel presence in the midst of the emptiness.

As we began 2021, as is my routine the last few years, I prayed for a “Word for the Year” rather than a set of resolutions or goals. And the word that God impressed on my heart was “Undone.” I longed to come joyfully undone in the presence of God in worship. I longed to come undone when I contemplated His power and majesty. I longed to be undone as I pondered on what Christ has done for me.

Little did I think that my undoing would come in the form of brokenness. Yet, as I look through my journal from last year, here’s what I wrote: “I want to offer something beautiful out of the brokenness.”

This last year went nothing like I’d planned. Maybe it’s similar for you, too. But we can still trust a God who brings beauty from brokenness.

As I write this last blog for 2021, may I pray for you:

Father God,

We stand at the closing chapter of this year and we look back with a mix of gratitude but also bewilderment, thankfulness but also deep pain.

This year has been filled with experiences that we may have preferred to avoid, or at least postpone. But, Father, in Your indiscernible wisdom, You led us through those times. And even when we don’t understand, we can still trust You because You are sovereign and You are always-loving.

Father, as we celebrate Christmas this year, I pray that we would experience an abiding peace that defies understanding. While many of us grapple with grief and loneliness, may we know that in our emptiness, You are the One with us.

The year ahead looks imposing and some of us have more questions than answers. Some of us simply lack the energy to put one foot in front of another and walk into 2022. But, Father, we thank You for being a faithful God who goes before us and walks with us through all the unknowns. Help us to cling to You and run this race with our eyes fixed on Jesus.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

 

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