This new journey of grief looks nothing like I had imagined. I always thought I would be visiting my momma’s grave every day and sitting serenely as I talked to her and cried, telling her how much I missed her. Instead, the past three months have been some of the busiest and most stress-filled days of my life. The weird thing about grief is that life goes on.
I had the honor and blessing of getting to illustrate this year’s children’s Christmas book that our church will give away during our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight service. What Christ Brings is the third of these books that I’ve had the opportunity to be part of and each experience has been so unique for me due to the season of life I’ve been in.
This Christmas at Council Road, we are releasing an original song to go along with our Advent season. The song, “What Christ Brings” was written to encourage our church and remind us of the beautiful blessings that Christ brings to us as we celebrate this special season. It is always such a gift to hear the songs that my husband, Eric Wall, dreams up for our church and this one is definitely no exception.
Is it possible to feel thankful for anything when you are reeling and in despair? I found myself grappling with this very question five years ago in the days leading up to Thanksgiving of 2019. My newly adopted daughter had shockingly just been diagnosed with cancer. Faced with the uncertainty of my daughter’s future, I was wrestling with the idea of being “thankful” for anything when my circumstances felt distressing. Reflecting on that hard season, I want to offer four suggestions for discovering gratitude and thanksgiving when faced with difficult circumstances.
Last year, I had the privilege of contributing to an Advent devotional book called Advent: Preparing for the Arrival of the Savior. My contribution included Christmas and Advent hymns from church history, with a peek into the theology and history of the hymns. For our blog post today, I have included the introduction that I wrote for that devotional. I hope it encourages you in your own Advent studies this year. May the hymns you sing during Advent encourage and strengthen your faith as you worship the birth of our Savior!
Have you ever seen God turn what seemed like a small idea into something so wildly wonderful that only He could be responsible? You will if you come shop at The Gift Goes On, Council Road’s beloved purchasing-for-a-purpose event on November 19th! But to fully appreciate its wonder, you should hear how far it has come from where it began.
Am I ripe, or am I still just a bit green, needing to sit on the counter a bit longer to allow my flavor to deepen so the fullest, most delicious bite is its finest? I first completed an extensive study on the above verses with Pam Thompson. She was a pushover for any study where “joy” was an included element. So, Beth Moore, here we come, and full speed ahead! Since that long ago summer deep dive into Beth’s study on the well-known and loved Galatians Fruit of the Spirit passage, I’ve experienced a maturing of the flavor of my Fruit. I would certainly hope so; I’ve been on the counter a good while by now. However, in some ways, I’m still there, awaiting the perfect maturing of all delightful essences of this Fruit, two of which are self-control and faithfulness.
Playing referee to my arguing kids was one of the hardest things for me to manage as a mom! Ephesians 4:32 was probably my most quoted verse on a day to day basis. I wondered if my kids would ever actually like each other! It is fun for my husband and I to be on the other side now as empty nesters and see how much our kids enjoy being together. They hang out with each other and even vacation together—with & without us!
