HOPE IN THE SEASON

December 1, 2025

I don’t know about you, but Christmas is probably my favorite time of year! Gatherings with family, decorations placed throughout our home, the fresh blanket of snow that covers the ground (although, I could do without the below zero temperatures that usually come too!). But all these things help signify that Christmas is here! I always think Christmas will be a time where we get to slow down and really enjoy time together. But we’re usually busier during the Christmas season than any other time of year. But somehow the busyness feels different. The days aren’t spent rushing from one meeting to the next, planning the next lesson for Awana or scheduling the next doctor’s appointment for the kids. The days are spent preparing to celebrate Christ’s birth. The arrival of our Savior into the world. There’s an anticipation that comes with the Christmas season that isn’t present in the day-to-day routine. There’s a sense of hope that seems to fill the air.

For some reason this year, the anticipation of Christmas started stirring in my heart much earlier than usual. Once we reached the end of summer, I started pondering Christmas and anticipating its arrival. But why? I couldn’t put my finger on it for quite a while. But then I started to realize why.

We entered 2025 with much joy and anticipation! We were preparing for the arrival of our sweet little guy, Azariah, and shortly after we started the new year, we learned that two of our brothers and their wives were also expecting and were due shortly after us! This only increased the excitement that our families felt as we began to dream about the future with three cousins so close! However, the anticipation we felt quickly turned to heartbreak when we learned that both of our nephews had terminal diagnoses and would not survive outside of the womb. I wrestled so much with why God would allow this. Why didn’t we get to keep Will and Ezekiel here on this earth with us? While I don’t feel like I have perfect answers to this, and maybe never will this side of heaven, I was reminded time and time again of God’s goodness, grace, and faithfulness. I was reminded that God didn’t create our world this way. When sin entered the world, sickness and disease came with it. As a result of our sin and the evil of this world, death is a reality. A very harsh reality. And we don’t always know why.

We also walked through this harsh reality in January this year when Sam’s grandpa passed away and again this fall when we lost my grandma. The death of my grandma, “Gma” as the great grandkids call her, hit Tali (our 4-year-old) especially hard. She knew Gma well and struggled to understand why she wasn’t at her house when we would go over in the days and weeks after she passed away. She asked many, many questions. I learned that you must face grief head-on when you’re also helping a toddler process it! A couple of weeks ago in her Awana Cubbies lesson, she was learning about Eve eating the fruit in the garden. The lesson explained that the consequence of eating the fruit was death and at the end of the lesson it ended with Eve eating the fruit! That’s it. It stopped there. Quite a cliff hanger for a 4-year-old! Tali looked at me when I stopped reading and said, “Mom! Keep reading! What happened to Eve?! Did she die?!” I quickly realized that we weren’t stopping there. So, we talked through the whole Gospel story. How Eve chose to eat the fruit after God told them not to, how the consequence of that sin was that they had to leave the garden and that they were separated from God. BUT that God loved them and sent Jesus to die on the cross for their sins, and ours, and that because Jesus died on the cross for our sins AND rose from the dead, we can live with Him forever in heaven. When I got to the end of my Gospel presentation, she looked at me and said, “Mom! We will be in heaven with Gma then too!” As tears welled in my eyes, I was reminded that amidst the harsh reality of this world, there is HOPE. Hope that transcends everything in this world. Hope that holds true even when there are no answers. Hope even in death.

As I’ve reflected on this reminder of hope over the past few weeks, I have come to realize why the anticipation of Christmas has been on my heart so much this year. Because without it, we have no hope. Christmas is where it all began. It’s where God’s plan for redemption started. It started with a baby in a manger and ended with a man on a cross who conquered death. A man who died and rose again, saving us from our sins. A man who bridged the gap and made a way for us to be in right relationship with our Heavenly Father. Matthew 1:21 says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” That’s why He came. He came to give us hope. The hope of eternity with Him.

Revelation 21:1-4 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passwd away.’”

God sent Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. To restore relationship with Him, so that He can dwell among us and be with us. That’s why Christmas matters. That’s why we anxiously anticipate the celebration of His birth. Because without His coming, there is no hope. Because He came, we can anticipate His coming again!



So, as we enter this Christmas season, enjoy the time with family, enjoy the twinkling lights on the tree, the fresh blanket of snow outside, and the delicious food on the table. But also take time to let your heart reflect on the true reason we celebrate Christmas and the ultimate hope of eternity that it brings.