Advent Devotional - Day 4

Wednesday, December 2
Hebrews 10:23

Hold on to Hope

Jesus is our strong foundation. Our anchor who grounds and steadies us throughout life’s storms and tempests.

As I look ahead, like you, I know Christmas for my family will be drastically different. Typically, my large extended family of about 50 people or so gather in a banquet hall for Christmas breakfast, exchanging gifts, sharing celebrations and accomplishments from the year. We also sing! One of our favorites is our rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. It’s always hilarious!

Doing Christmas with the family is always highly anticipated. But one year instead of the adults exchanging gifts (only the children received that year), we hosted LOAF, which stands for love on a family. It had been a year of storms and change for this family of five; a mom and four daughters.

Christmas, while it was different for them, it happened. The mom felt held and supported. The girls, from teenagers to a kindergartener, loved their gifts. In addition to buying gifts, we invited the family to Christmas Breakfast. They accepted. It was so much fun to celebrate with them.

We ended our festivities together, for the first time, by sharing the loaf and the cup in communion as one family.

That Christmas we helped a family hold on to hope.

The hope-filled shared their hope with those whose hope was less. In breaking bread together, we all renewed and strengthened our hope again. Hope for provision. Hope that we had a future. Hope that God through Jesus is reliable and true to his word. Hope that comes from bringing together what you have and sharing it with others. Simple actions with overflowing reward.

May we hold on to Jesus, who is our reliable hope this Christmas though the world is different and unsteady.

Reflection by Charity Goodwin