A Merry Shattered Christmas - Charlaine Martin
The Hope of Christmas Restored
When I decorated our Christmas tree one year, I sifted through colorful ornaments wrapped in paper. I came upon some that were quite old. My dad had them at his house when I was a little girl. They were delicate glass with indented centers, each like a diamond facet reflecting the glow of Christmas lights. Some looked worse for wear with finger pokes, where I accidentally popped a finger through the brittle centers. I kept putting them up because I loved them, wonderful memories tinged with pain from the past. I decided it was time to toss them. Why? It was time to move on to better things.
And so, seven years later, I look back at those difficult Christmases after losing my late husband to cancer. In 2017, when I originally wrote this post, I still felt challenged to decorate for Christmas. Still, God had worked in my heart with those ornaments. This year, in 2024, I accidentally dropped a beautiful ornament my Boaz and I purchased on our trip to Oxford, UK. We usually buy ornaments to remind us of significant trips. Shattered in a gazillion pieces! My heart broke because I knew how much he loved that trip and how he fondly looked back at his studies at Oxford University. So, I carefully swept it up and ordered an ornament from the official gift shop, but it seemed very different. Although decorating for Christmas is still hard, I’ve learned to do it in stages. We’ve developed our traditions differently than Don and I had. I’ve learned to focus more on Jesus and less on the fanfare of Christmas thirteen years after Don left Earth and entered Heaven.
Restored Hope Comes from Faith in Christ
In Romans 5, the apostle Paul talks about living through suffering to grow more and more in the likeness of Christ. God justified us when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. Making Him Lord of our lives means we hope in future glory after growth through those challenges produces hope. We can focus on our pain, or we can focus on our Savior, who brings Hope. The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with God’s love, and we will never be put to shame.
Picking Up the Pieces
Life is full of curves, some of them hard to handle. We’ve witnessed some painful losses through friends and family members through the years. A friend of my husband’s lost his wife in an accident a year ago. She prepared a birthday surprise for him before she left for work that day. He got a call that afternoon that she had died. He felt like a knife stabbed through his heart. He was unable to open the gifts she had for him. It was too much pain. Can you imagine his first Christmas alone? Deep despair. How many military families have loved ones who came home in a casket draped with a flag? The Pandemic certainly left a lot of people without loved ones at Christmas. The anguish is enough to drop you to your knees. How many people lost jobs and could not buy basic needs, let alone have presents for their kids under the tree Christmas morning? Painful and humbling. How many people feel the sting of divorce as the ink dries on the document? That First Christmas ornament brings pain.
Putting the Past Where It Belongs
Recently, I read someone’s post on social media whose life had been shattered by loss. She considered suicide, but someone told her to hang on. Several days later, she could post how glad she was that she decided to stay. Joy can come in the morning if we wait on the Lord, who gives us hope. There is a time to put the past behind us while reaching for the hope that lies ahead. It waits to be opened like a beautifully wrapped gift amid ashes and rubble. Eventually, we must put the past where it belongs because God has something better for us.
God refines us through trials and tribulations like gold refined in a fire (Malachi 3:1-3, Zechariah 13:8-9). Each time we go through troublesome times and fiery trials, something in us is purged. He burns off the impurities within us so we might reflect more of the image of Christ. If we accept the gift of hope He offers us and open it, we will find the beautiful future God has for us.
Moving On to Restored Hope
What about you? How has your Christmas been shattered—in the past or recently? How does focusing on Jesus Christ, the reason for your hope, help you through the holidays? I have a challenge for you:
- Put up an inexpensive nativity set. Consider all the good things Jesus has brought into your life, write them on small pieces of paper, and place them around your nativity set for Jesus.
- Find an ornament that holds special meaning to you. Write down those amazing memories this ornament brings to your mind.
- Thank Jesus for the blessings He has given you, and trust that He will refine your heart so you may have joy in the hope He brings.
How can I pray for you? Feel free to email me at charlaine_martin@yahoo.com.
Many Christmas blessings to you!
