Love Heals
Embodying Christ’s Love in the Midst of Holiday Busyness
By Cammie Easley, LPC, MHSP-S, Director of Child & Adolescent Services
With December in full swing, we’ve stepped into a season filled with joy, anticipation, and gratitude. However, alongside such joy often comes BUSYNESS. Calendars become full, stores are crowded, lines are long, to-do lists are multiplying, and Christmas gatherings are in full swing. In this season, in the counseling office, we often hear stories about tense family conflicts that come to the surface, holiday conversations that turn passive-aggressive, and moments with loved ones where stress leads us to say things we don’t mean or miss opportunities to bless others because we are too hurried.
With all of this in mind, I want to take a moment to reflect on the posture we want to adopt as we prepare to gather with those we care about before the time has passed. As I mentioned before, you are not abnormal if your holiday gatherings can feel shallow, like you are walking on egg shells to keep peace in the family. It’s not abnormal if you feel tense when dealing with uncomfortable, inappropriate questions from unwitting relatives about your marital status, timeline for children, or parenting strategies.
Yet, it’s into this chaos and messiness that Jesus Himself entered to save us from our sins. In the same way, it is into these messy and complicated gatherings, that we are called to reflect His light and warmth and love. We are called in these moments to be ambassadors of His kindness and forgiveness and gentleness. Because, after all, it is His love that heals all of our broken places.
What would it look like this year if we purposefully chose to put on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control before we entered our next Christmas gathering? What if we intentionally used our words to bless those we encounter, rather than simply complimenting them on their sweater, fitness regimen or cooking skills? What would it look like if we responded to inappropriate questions with truthfulness and grace? What if we humbly apologized for wrongs done and asked for forgiveness? What would it look like if we looked at each person through Christ’s eyes, speaking to them as He would, rather than rushing past them in our haste? What if we carried words of healing instead of Christmas clichés? What would it look like if we used boundaries to honor true relationship, rather than merely self-protecting?
Colossians 3:12-17 states:
“12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
So, this is my challenge for all of us this Christmas season: Let us carry Christ’s love and kindness into every interaction. Let us be ambassadors of healing, knowing that many are hurting and grieving during this time. And let us be intentional in noticing and blessing our loved ones with our words and actions, in a culture that is often hurried and focused on material things.
If you are hurting, lonely or grieving this holiday season, please know you are not alone! And, reach out—we would love to be a tangible expression of the Lord’s tenderness and nearness during this time.
Merry Christmas!
Meet Cammie Easley, LPC-MHSP, Director of Child & Adolescent Services!
Cammie graduated with her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in May of 2014 from Denver Seminary in Denver, CO.
Throughout her career as a counselor, Cammie has been passionate about helping individuals of all ages overcome anxiety and depression, heal from past traumas, process their own grief, and develop into the healthy and whole people that God designed them to be.
She believes firmly that seasons of hardship are God’s tool which He uses to make us more like Himself and to reveal Himself to us in ways that we would not otherwise come to intimately know. One of her greatest joys in counseling is helping individuals figure out how they can heal in a holistic way that incorporates their body, mind, and spirit.