Jesus is the reason

❄️🩵

My favorite time of the year,

and yet grief and joy coexist.

So much noise around me—

I wish it would quiet down.

Grief whispers

of the things I’ve lost,

while joy runs deeper than happiness ever could,

steady,

not loud.

I notice the beauty

in the little things more than usual.

Lights glisten,

shining into places

that were once dark.

I’ve grown to realize

the presents and the gifts

never brought me true happiness—

only something fleeting.

Time and time again,

I tried to place my hope

in some kind of magic I imagined.

A special time, full of cheer,

yet never enough to hold me.

And then the magic fades.

But Jesus stays.

And then I remember

I’m not the only one in this quiet space

where things have changed.

What I once thought was a disadvantage

has become an advantage—

because here, in the stillness,

I see Him more clearly.

Jesus is my anchor,

not wrapped in glitter or noise,

but steady,

present,

true.

The real reason this season still shines,

even when my heart is learning

how to hold both grief and joy,

choosing to trust

even when I don’t always feel

the “merry” of the season.

Sometimes trust is quiet.

It’s staying.

It’s lighting the candle anyway,

praying anyway,

believing He is here

even when I don’t feel it.

I kept waiting for the season

to heal what it never promised to,

to fill spaces it could never reach.

Now I see Jesus

in stillness,

in light,

in breath and presence.

And that’s when I know—

it’s Him.

I don’t have to pretend

things are perfect.

I don’t have to pretend I’m not hurting.

I don’t have to pretend joy looks the same.

When I stop pretending,

Jesus meets me here

and doesn’t rush.

This is why Christmas

is still my favorite time of the year.

This is why the lights still matter.

Because Jesus

is the reason.

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄