This young lady has so much going for her.
She’s kind and friendly. She’s doing well in school. She placed fairly high in a recent statewide beauty/talent competition, and her cheer team just got to compete at a national event.
This past Thursday, she turned 13.
I work with her mother and I was the one who received the birthday cake when the baker delivered it to the office, just before the mom and daughter duo arrived.
When they came in, the girl was all smiles and humbly said thank yous to wishes of a happy birthday.
Barely 30 minutes later, she was weeping in her mother’s arms.
A call they’d been dreading came. Her dad, the mother’s ex-husband, had just died in his hospital bed after a long battle with cancer.
At the mom’s request, I prayed with them. Cried with them, too.
“At least we know where he is now,” said Mom, “and that he’s not suffering anymore, right?”
The daughter nodded and produced a weak smile.
It was less than two weeks before Christmas and this child had just become a teenager and lost her father on the same day.
So many people, maybe you included, go through holidays without a loved one. This year will be the first for some and the next in a long line for others.
Offer comfort and a kind word, a hug, a prayer and maybe just silently sitting nearby to show your support. Please don’t tell them you know how they feel, unless you have been through this type of loss yourself.
Just be a friend, someone who cares. That’s what they need. Love is what’s needed.
After all, Christmas is here because Christ Jesus came to earth. There’s never been a greater act of love than what he came to do for us through his death and resurrection.
I pray a wonderful, comforting, peaceful Christmas for you and yours.
And I’m praying for you.
