“The most amazing part of going through the darkness of divorce is the sense of joy and liberation when you move past it and into the life you were born for.” ~Margot Thompson
It’s Christmas eve. Many of you are struggling with the darkness of divorce during Christmas. The darkness of despair. The darkness of a life different than what you planned; different than the life you wanted. You may be in the very heart of recovery from the darkness of divorce at midlife. But even though you might not feel it, Christmas eve is a time of coming change, of a promised bright new life on the verge of breaking through.
Yet, Christmas eve is a dark, cold night for unsuspecting shepherds in the fields tending their sheep, talking of the normal happenings of life. Talking of spouses who don’t understand. Talking about the low price of sheep. Talking of hopes for children or worries about an aging parent or maybe talking of a religious feast that was fast approaching. Maybe the shepherds were looking up at the countless twinkling stars and wondering what happens when death comes. When suddenly … there were angels and a light so bright there was no doubting that it was something miraculous! The shepherds were not expecting it! They were trembling and afraid. They were in the darkness when suddenly came the songs of a heavenly host and a light that dimmed everything else in their lives by comparison.
Suddenly along with that feeling of surprise there was an insistent stirring inside that boldly told them that life as they knew it was about to change. And change dramatically! Change in a way that there was no going back and no wanting to go back! They didn’t fully understand it, but they knew this experience was a foretaste of the joy and liberation that God was planning for the whole world. A happening that would transport anyone who accepted it into the new life they were born for!
Christ coming into the world brings a life of robust peace, awesome joy and a purpose that allows each one of us to shine like never before …. now and forever.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, and without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. … The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
