Finding hope

What do you do when you’re hurting and struggling at Christmas? The holidays are not jolly for many.  

Recently, a friend texted me a picture of a young boy in a hospital connected to life support, and a family member shared his marriage is ending in divorce. We all have friends or family who are hurting. Or perhaps you feel broken and can’t find the pieces.  

What do you do?

Here’s a true story: Only a few weeks after Christmas, a sudden heart attack took Barb Alvey’s husband. They had been inseparable, sharing life for 64 years. Children, grandchildren and friends grieved, and Barb now faced a big empty house. Life had changed.

The following Christmas Barb left the hodgepodge of family ornaments with past memories in their boxes. Instead, she trimmed a gigantic eight-foot Christmas tree with gold strands and gold balls. She wanted to point to heaven with streets paved with gold where her beloved husband now lived. She grieved with hope.

True stories like this inspire and comfort me, but I also appreciate fiction books which pull me out of myself and remind me that a loving God rules. That’s why the Storytellersquad exists. We read and write to encourage others. We focus on books that are clean or can deepen faith for middle grade and young adults.

While Google and websites offer long lists of wonderful Christmas books and stories, may I remind you of the best Christmas story ? It’s a true story and offers light in a dark world. Read here

Wendell Berry was correct, “It gets darker and darker, and then Jesus is born.”  

Wishing you hope.

Gretchen