The season of Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of year. It’s always been full of joy and excitement and feels like a nonstop party with all those I love as we celebrate the God who came to save us. And while I’m just as excited for this holiday season as ever, I can’t escape the fact that this year isn’t quite the same.
You see, my family and I suffered two major losses this year with the deaths of my grandfathers, just five months apart.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t say all this to get sympathy, but I feel like I need to be real and just let you know that this year has been hard. I feel I should explain what sort of place my heart and mind have been in for the past several months. 2021, the year that was supposed to be so full of promise and hope after a chaotic 2020, did not live up to my expectations at all. Instead, I found myself faced with the most difficult valley I’ve ever walked through. So yes, this year, Christmas is a bittersweet thing. It's beautiful and still full of joy and laughter, but a sadness tinges its edges, tainting something that was always pure before now.
A few weeks ago, however, I happened to hear this song by the new Christian band, CAIN--with my all-time favorite artist, Steven Curtis Chapman, collaborating with them--called “Wonderful”. I was at work, going about my day and casually listening to Christmas music in my headphones, even though it was still November. And when the first verse began, it was all I could do to hold myself together standing there at the printer. I’ll share the rest of the song later, but here are the words to that verse:
Gathered round the table
So much to be thankful for
It’s Christmas
Oh, how I’ve missed this
But through the joy and laughter
You can feel the sadness
Cause this Christmas
Everyone’s not with us
Those words perfectly encapsulate my feelings this year. It’s joy mixed with sadness. Excitement mixed with dread as I’m faced all over again with what is now missing from my life. But the song continues, offering a refreshing reminder that I needed to hear that day:
It’s the time of year
When happiness and cheer
Won’t be enough to get me through the night
I need a Wonderful Counselor
The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace
Who’s strong enough to carry me
Immanuel, God with us
The One who’s love will never end
Oh, Jesus can you make this sеason Wonderful
The whole point of the Christmas season is that a loving God came down to earth in human flesh so that He could be near us and counsel us in our grief and pain. He came to shine light into a dark and broken world. I always thought I understood this. But I understand it in a deeper, much more personal way now. This year more than ever, the flamboyant, commercialized cheer of Christmas truly is not enough. I am keenly aware that I NEED the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God and Prince of Peace who is strong enough to carry me in my grief. He can make any season, even this one, truly wonderful.
Maybe you’re in a similar place right now. Maybe this year didn’t live up to your hopes either. Maybe you’ve lost loved ones, a job, a relationship. Maybe your heart is broken and you don’t know how it can possibly be put back together. Maybe Christmas doesn’t quite feel like Christmas this year. Maybe you’re struggling to find a reason to celebrate.
Well, as the angels once heralded to that group of Bethlehem shepherds, I’m here to remind you that unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government rests upon His shoulders. And He is called the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. He is making this season wonderful for me, despite everything. And he can do so for you as well!
Almighty in a manger
Told us He’d bе no stranger
To all our sorrow
All the hurt we’ll ever know
So let these gifts remind us
How Love came down to find us
Wonder of the ages
The life, the truth, the way
He is our Wonderful Counselor
The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace
Who’s strong enough to carry me
Immanuel, God with us
The One who’s love will never end
Oh, Jesus you can make this season Wonderful
(Wonderful) For unto us a child is born
(Wonderful) For unto us a son is given
(Wonderful) And He will live
And He will die
To conquer death and bring us life
Forever
He will be our Wonderful Counselor
The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace
Who’s strong enough to carry me
Immanuel, God with us
The One whose love will never end
Oh, Jesus You are Wonderful
~ Wonderful, CAIN & Steven Curtis Chapman
Photo by Jessica Lynn Lewis from Pexels
