Christmas will be here before we know it! It seems to creep up on me sooner than expected every year and I am rarely prepared for it.

This year, however, our family is doing something different. We are not giving gifts. Instead, we're having family photos made. All fourteen of us are meeting for a family dinner on the Sunday before Christmas and then we will head over to a local farm to meet Katelyn, our photographer, who is bringing a huge, mustard-colored sofa. I'm so excited about this! Can you tell?

Rest...four letters that form one little word, filled with promise, but overshadowed by impossibility. Why is rest so elusive to us? Maybe you are a corporate woman with deals to make and meetings to run. Or, maybe you’re a mom with little ones, diapers, playdates, and laundry to the ceiling. Even if there are currently no little lives depending on you for existence, and you don’t have a corner office, I’m sure your days are filled with opportunities and obligations that keep you busy enough to crash when your head hits the pillow at night. No matter what is written in our individual planners, the pace we keep, the social media we take in, and the pressure to push for more can leave each of us feeling soul-drained. ​

The other day I was having a conversation with a friend as she stood by her two babies who were resting in a stroller. Her little boy was facing her and wanted to get his mama’s attention. As we talked, he made the cutest grunting noises until she turned and looked at him. The minute her eyes met his, his face lit up with the biggest smile, one of the most precious things I’ve ever seen. All it took from this little guy’s mom was a glance his way to completely satisfy his longing to be seen. That moment with my friend and her baby made me think about how we all have a similar desire to be seen, to be known, and loved. ​

As parents, we make lots of investments in the lives of our children and we pray they’ll pay off when they’re raised into adulthood. We invest time, energy, and money in things we believe will build character, skills, discipline, and hopefully bring college scholarships. As a mom, I haven’t always done everything right, but one investment that my husband and I have worked hard to make is the friendship investment. I’m not talking about taking our children to play dates or signing them up for activities so they’ll find good friends, I’m talking about investing in their friendships with one another as siblings. Romans 12:10 says,

Have you ever felt that prickly feeling of someone’s personality bristling up against yours? It’s the worst. I was in elementary school when I realized not everyone is going to like me. I distinctly remember writing on my workbook, Everybody hates me! Needless to say, I was a little dramatic. I think it was one girl who said something that made me upset and suddenly I felt like the whole world was against me. This scenario played out several more times in my school career, all except for the writing on the workbook part. Even into adulthood, I’ve found myself confronted with people who are difficult to love because they don’t seem to want to love me back. 

​Jesus said that we will experience rejection, as a matter of fact, we may even feel hatred from others. He certainly experienced both rejection and hatred. But, Jesus also taught in Matthew 5:43-48, 

Today I caught such a sweet glimpse of God revealing His glory in the beauty of His creation. I walked outside the doors of my church and spotted one of the most exquisite creatures I’ve ever seen. It was a giant moth. Now, I don’t normally find moths of any sort very attractive, but this one was an exception. My son and I stopped to look at it and we were awed by the glorious display of its wings moving to avoid our touch. Its wings were a vibrant green, about 3-4 inches across and had two sets of brown eye spots at the top. At the bottom was a billowing tail that looked delicate, almost like ribbons on the end of a kite. Its body was white and furry, with feathery antennae. I was enthralled. Some friends came out to see the moth with us and one said, Oh, that’s a Luna Moth. ​

​Recently, my husband said something that gave my heart a serious wake-up call. I was crying like I’ve been doing for the past two months since my best friend suddenly and unexpectedly went to heaven. My grief can be overwhelming and I was drowning in an ocean of tears when my husband walked in the room. He desperately wanted to comfort me, but when he looked me in the eyes, he said,

​“You know God’s Word tells us as believers that we do not grieve as those without hope. When I look at you like this, I don’t see any hope in your eyes.”

Although I knew he meant to help me, that statement felt like a punch in the stomach. His words continued to tumble in my mind until I sensed the Holy Spirit confirming what he said. “It’s true.” I thought, “My hope feels as broken as my heart does.”