Whiter than snow

Merry Christmas.

It never seems like enough. I tell someone "Merry Christmas" and I feel like I should also hand them something. Everyone seems to be struggling this year, struggling to be "merry". Everyone has either faced loss this year or is very close to someone who has. What are we supposed to do?

For what it's worth, I truly believe that we are in the midst of a cleansing process. We're being forced to live without things we've never considered losing before. Our area is especially hard-hit because of the industry on which our community thrives. Unemployment in this county ranks among the worst in the country. But as I've said before, I'm hearing more and more people starting to talk about their faith and how God may fit into their life. It's not uncommon for us to seek God when we're at a low point in our lives. So maybe God has created a sort of "global valley" to see if we can make our way back to Him. I don't know.....it just really seems like we're supposed to be getting a bigger message out of all this. We sang a song in church this weekend that had a line in it that I really like: "whiter than snow, whiter than snow, wash me and I shall be whiter than I've ever known". Maybe the timing of all this is meant to knock the dirt off of us so we can be washed clean again.

...Just a thought.

Merry Christmas...and I really do mean it.