Tis the Season To Be….. Lonely?

Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la….la-la-la-laaaaaa.

Christmas really is a great time of the year.  It’s a special time when we’re able to laugh and reminisce with family and friends.  A time when we eat to our heart’s content – and beyond.  It’s also a time of giving.  Giving of our time, of our love, and even gifts to those we love and cherish.  It’s an exciting time for children and adults alike as we see the Christmas lights going up, hear the Christmas music coming out of the radio, and feel the anticipation grow as Christmas morning draws ever closer.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.  For many, anyway.

The truth is that there are some this Christmas season who will be alone and hurting. 

While we are out shopping and wrapping up the last items on our Christmas list, someone will be sitting alone, looking out of the window of a nursing home, remembering past Christmases.  His memories are fond but the loneliness is painful.  His seemingly brash personality only reflects the pain he feels in his heart because his best friend, his bride of 50 years, was taken.

While we are celebrating with friends and family, a young mother sits alone on her living room floor surrounded by piles of photos of a beautiful, smiling couple.  She cries as she thinks of her husband that she lost to war.

While we are stuck in traffic regretting leaving the house to shop, a man sits alone in a prison cell, regretting the decisions he made that has separated him from the ones he loves.  He feels like there is no hope.  He’d trade a year of his life just to be with them on Christmas morning, to see the excitement on his little daughter’s face as she opens her gifts.

While our children are “nestled in bed and visions of sugar plums dance in their heads”, there are some parents who are sitting beside their little one at the hospital.  Their child is battling cancer and may not even make it to see Christmas morning.  They put up a small tree and decorations in the room in an effort to bring some Christmas joy.

Does it make you think?

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the hustle-bustle of Christmas, trying to get all of the loose ends tied up before the big day arrives.  It’s also easy to overlook those who are hurting because we’re thinking of how we want Christmas day to be perfect for our own family.  But, if we choose to, we don’t have to look very far to see people who are in real pain this Christmas.  People who would love more than anything to spend a few hours in an environment filled with love and laughter.  A home filled with hope and joy, even if it’s not filled with the most expensive presents.

How about this….

We have about two more weeks until Christmas day.  Let’s pray that God will help us to be sensitive to the needs of those around us and that He will put someone in our path that we can bless in some way.  There are hundreds of ways that we are able to show love to those who may feel lonely this Christmas without having to spend anything but time.

I hope that you are not alone this Christmas.  If you happen to be one who is, I’m praying that God will surround you with His presence and that if it’s your desire, He will bring a person or people into your life so that you can spend this Christmas, and the time following, with friends.

From our family to yours,

We wish you a very Merry Christmas season!