When you find yourself alone at Christmas, the sights and sounds that should bring joy can reinforce your sense of sadness and loss. There is no magic, get-well-quick formula; processing what you\u2019re missing takes time and God\u2019s sustaining grace. But here are some insights to help you: <\/p>\n
(1) Don\u2019t assume.<\/i> Don\u2019t buy into the myth that everybody else is having a perfect Christmas while you struggle. The truth is, we all experience the unrealistic demands and pressures of shopping, entertaining and gift-giving. And it\u2019s worse in times of heartache. That\u2019s why we\u2019re so relieved when it\u2019s over. <\/p>\n
(2) It\u2019s just one day out of 365.<\/i> You can handle it for twenty-four hours because God has promised to give you \u2018strength\u2026 equal [to] your days.\u2019<\/i> (Deuteronomy\u00a033:25\u00a0NIV<\/sup>) <\/p>\n (3) Take the focus off yourself.<\/i> Reach out. See if there\u2019s a needy family or a hurting acquaintance who\u2019d enjoy spending an hour with you. It\u2019ll probably be the last thing you feel like doing, but it is therapeutic, restores your perspective and brings a sense of well-being and gratitude. <\/p>\n (4) Start some new traditions, especially when old ones just make you feel worse. \u2018Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.\u2019<\/i> (Philippians\u00a03:13\u00a0NKJV<\/sup>) If you\u2019re feeling lonely, here\u2019s a prayer for you. \u2018Lord, you know my heart aches today. Your Word says You are close to the brokenhearted. Let me feel Your nearness. Become more real to me than the activity without and the emptiness within. Help me draw close to You, and in so doing make this Christmas like none I\u2019ve ever known.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you find yourself alone at Christmas, the sights and sounds that should bring joy can reinforce your sense of sadness and loss. There is no magic, get-well-quick formula; processing what you\u2019re missing takes time and God\u2019s sustaining grace. But here are some insights to help you: (1) Don\u2019t assume. Don\u2019t buy into the myth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}