{"id":5792,"date":"2018-01-16T13:52:01","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T19:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5792"},"modified":"2018-01-16T13:52:01","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T19:52:01","slug":"holiday-spirits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/16\/holiday-spirits\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Spirits"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Robin Allen\u00a0<\/strong>
\nDuring holiday seasons, many find themselves feeling alone and abandoned, forgotten and hopeless. The suicide rate is always highest during that time of year.\u00a0 The loss of a loved one is heightened, regrets plague our minds.\u00a0 Questions we can\u2019t answer and answers we can\u2019t understand, lead us to despair.\u00a0 Our fear grows as we look towards the future.\u00a0 Selfishly, even I have asked God to just take me out of this world so that I can be with Him, but He says, \u201cNot yet.\u201d
\n 
\nIn the Lewis Carroll Christmas classic, he wrote of Mr. Scrooge being visited by three spirits, the Ghost of Christmas past, present, and future.\u00a0 I believe that we, as well, have these same \u201cghosts\u201d haunt us.\u00a0 We long for the simple Christmas holidays of our youth.\u00a0 I look back in time when Christmas brought excitement and expectation.\u00a0 Dreaming under the tree of what Santa might bring.\u00a0 Then as a young woman in love, and finally the wonder in my own children\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 But, I also think of my mother, who died when I was fifteen and my father when I was twenty.\u00a0 I remember the devastating feeling of abandonment, and being thrust into the role of adult.\u00a0 One Christmas I am waiting on Santa, the next I find myself taking on the role.
\n 
\nAfter thirty years my marriage has ended.\u00a0 I am faced with holidays alone.\u00a0 I have been richly blessed with children, siblings and friends; but, the children are grown, my family is separated by miles, and the holiday spirit is allusive.\u00a0 I am unemployed, living in someone else\u2019s home. Today I feel very useless.\u00a0 I question myself, my choices and wonder \u201chow did I get here\u201d.\u00a0 I did all the right things.\u00a0 I was a good girl, went to church, taught Bible classes, studied my Bible, reared my children in the church, worked, and made a home.\u00a0 Yet, my life is not turning out the way I thought it was supposed to.\u00a0 Then I think of my future.\u00a0 I am here, what\u2019s next?\u00a0\u00a0 The fear of uncertainty causes me to turn to what I know is certain, My Father and to His words of hope, assurance, and purpose.
\n 
\nBefore Jesus made His final entry into Jerusalem, He sat down with His apostles.\u00a0 The men He had hand-picked, His friends.\u00a0 He began to prepare them for the lose and abandonment they would feel after His death and give them hope.\u00a0 He begins with comfort, \u201cLet not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me\u201d\u00a0 He gives them hope for the future, \u201cIn My Father\u2019s house are many dwelling places\u2026I go to prepare a place for you\u2026that where I am, there you may be also\u201d (John 14:2-3).\u00a0 Jesus gives them assurance, \u201cAnd you know the way\u2026I am the way, the truth, and the life\u201d (John 14:1-6).
\n 
\nJesus knew what He would suffer.\u00a0 He was human.\u00a0 He was tempted.\u00a0 He was betrayed and alone.\u00a0 Even our Lord and Savior understood abandonment.\u00a0 Suspended between heaven and earth, He cried, \u201cMy God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?\u201d (Mark 15:34).\u00a0 But, praise be to God, Jesus arose and now sits at the right hand of God.\u00a0 He has overcome the world.\u00a0 He promised that He will never desert or forsake us. \u2018The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid…Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, yes, and forever.\u201d (Hebrews 13:5-8).
\n 
\nPaul knew from his own life experiences what it was like to loose his wealth, community standing, and ultimately his life.\u00a0 Certainly he did not expect to be the one in prison awaiting execution. The day he held the coats at Stephen\u2019s stoning his future looked bright but Jesus had a different path in mind.\u00a0 So, forgetting the past, Paul learned that whatever state he was in, to be content, as he pressed on toward the mark.\u00a0 Remembering the promises made to me by God through Christ, I, too, will press on toward the goal, learning the lessons of life and having the hope of heaven in my heart.\u00a0 Putting my \u201chands to the plow\u201d and keeping my sights ahead, not looking back.\u00a0 I will say, \u201cThis is the day that the Lord has made.\u201d
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robin Allen\u00a0 During holiday seasons, many find themselves feeling alone and abandoned, forgotten and hopeless. The suicide rate is always highest during that time of year.\u00a0 The loss of a loved one is heightened, regrets plague our minds.\u00a0 Questions we can\u2019t answer and answers we can\u2019t understand, lead us to despair.\u00a0 Our fear grows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,66],"tags":[1347,1333,1348,1349,593,1227],"class_list":["post-5792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-think-excerpts","tag-abandonment","tag-april-2013","tag-loneliness","tag-robin-allen","tag-temptation","tag-womans-perspective","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nHoliday Spirits - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/01\/16\/holiday-spirits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Holiday Spirits - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Robin Allen\u00a0 During holiday seasons, many find themselves feeling alone and abandoned, forgotten and hopeless. 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