Comfort & Joy
Church Christmas services for our family came early with a breathtaking choir, stunning holiday decor and a full orchestra.
Our family arriving at the service in our holiday best while singing and swaying to the Christmas classics such as “Silent Night” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
The most fitting theme during the church service: “Comfort and Joy.” During the service, the message focused on the biblical correlation of comfort and joy – knowing that Jesus, our Lord and Savior has arrived to rescue us.
However, the aspect of the sermon that intrigued me most was how we can feel comfort, joy and pain. How is this possible? And why?
This was a hard message for me to digest. I understood it as: We feel pain, but need comfort and joy to feel some type of relief.
To be rescued.
As I sat in the stiff church chairs with my little girl leaning on my shoulder, I felt joy. Joy that I had this moment with my family to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.
Then, I felt pain for those suffering. Like those families in Sandy Hook, Connecticut who will be without their babies this Christmas.
My heart burned at that moment as I prayed they would have strength and courage and perhaps a faint level of comfort.
My four-year-old daughter, tired from the evening service asked if I could hold her. I held her tight as we sang “Comfort and Joy.”
I leave you with this beautiful rendition of “Comfort and Joy.”
May God bless you and your family this holiday.
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About Author
clearly kristal
I grew up on the outskirts of a small California town in the Central Coast. In the 1970s, I was raised on a communal farm with two hippie (sometimes hick) parents, three sisters and a brother. By the late 1970s, we relocated to the "city." After watching countless episodes of the popular TV sitcom "Brady Bunch," I struggled throughout the years to assimilate into mainstream society. Eventually, I graduated with a journalism degree from a four-year college (a first in my family). For the last 15 years, I have been a professional communicator and consultant for several Fortune 500 companies (working for “the man” as my parents would say). However, my dream has always been to write – creatively with a passion for telling the story of my own experiences and unique upbringing. I started this blog with the hopes that my clear thoughts and epiphanies could have a positive impact. I also hope to someday publish my memoir. Now living in suburbia with a loving husband and two beautiful children, I hope to offer some perspective into my daily life blended with my past - because moments matter.
Kristal,
I saw this earlier but didn’t have time to read it. I am glad I waited. I am well, but have crescendo’d for the day, ready to digest this; ready to let your words rescue me. Thank you for reminding me about what’s truly important. Merry Christmas and God bless you and your family. Xo, Molly
I hope you had a lovely holiday. Glad my words rescued someone!