Welcome to What’s in the Bible?’s 6-week blog series to help you and your family through the “Tricky Bits” of this holiday season – everything from connecting our modern traditions to their sacred roots to helping you navigate holiday budgets and meal planning! Join our team of writers plus some very special guest bloggers for a Christmas blog series unlike any other.
Today’s guest blog is from Rachel Wojnarowski, who writes at www.rachelwojo.com.
How to Help Families Hurting at the Holidays
If there was ever a time of the year that we should be most joyful, it is Christmas! We celebrate the birth of our Savior and rejoice in God’s gift to the world- His Son. But for many, Christmas is a reminder of better days. Days before an accident…before a diagnosis…before a death in a close-knit family. The holidays can bring a myriad of emotions that conflict the joy of the season with memories from the past or present-day problems.
Sometimes we just need a little guidance to assist us as we journey through life. Here are five practical tips to help hurting families through the holiday season.
1. Attend a church concert or play and sit together as a family. Music can soothe the soul.
2. Reach out to another hurting family by having dinner together or going Christmas caroling. Spending time with those in similar situations can bring comfort and understanding.
3. Focus on a family activity that will build a great memory. Whether you have a family game night or work a puzzle, give the good a chance to shine in the middle of tough circumstances.
4. Write a list of things you have to be thankful for in spite of the situation. Purposefully choosing to place the good in the foreground is uplifting and encouraging.
5. Read a devotional or book together each day in addition to your Bible reading that will help you focus on God’s promises.
12 Days of Christmas for the Hurting is a devotional written to minister to people who have hurting hearts during the holidays. Whether you’ve lost a job, suffer from disease or miss your loved ones, this e-devotional will remind you of God’s gifts to you and bring comfort through a difficult season.
Words to express the ache I feel for those experiencing sorrow during this time is challenging to deliver, but there is one place to which I can point you for restoration and hope. The Word of God contains the words- and the power- to heal. Gifts from our True Love, our Heavenly Father, are available each and every day. Remind yourself by reading this devotional that in spite of hurts or wrong circumstances, God loves you and His gifts are ever-giving. This will never change.
Do you have any practical tips to help hurting hearts during the holidays? We’d love it if you would share them in the comments below!
I’m so thankful for our awesome friends at What’s in The Bible? and would love for you to stop by RachelWojo.com today to enter a giveaway for the awesome What’s In The Bible? Why Do We Call It Christmas? DVD! Click HERE.
