Dec 14 - Luke 2:10a

And the angel said

to them, "Be not afraid …”

Luke 2:10a

This fall, we had a friend lose her husband of 50+ years.

This Christmas, she sent a card, and the words on the front were angelic. They quoted this verse. It was an angelic cry to shepherds and widows: “Fear not!”

The words on the inside were equally angelic – though not spoken officially by angels. As my devotion today, let me share them with you. Why? Because as the years progress, most of us grieve the loss of someone at the holidays.

I pray these words encourage you as much as they comforted our dear old friend …

This Christmas, when we gather together,

there will be an empty chair...

there will be hearts full of memories

of those who are no longer with us...

there will be tears of sadness for the loss

and tears of joy for having known

those who've gone to be with the Lord...

But even though they are gone from this earth,

they will live on in those who remember them.

Remember with me those we love this Christmas,

and through our memories,

let's keep them a part of our celebration...

for their spirit is with God,

and God is with us,

so it is true that they are never far away.

Merry Christmas my dear ones... I love you all.

From GreetingCardUniverse

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who’ll be silent

and let you read that again