Pause for Prayer

By Karen Schoeppach

Are you in high spirits after spending the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ with family and friends? Or are you exhausted because you worked on and worried over gifts, Christmas cards, and parties? You can either enjoy the time you spend with family and friends or allow it to wear you down and bury the true reason for celebrating. Society, the retail world, and the media put pressure on us to follow their plans and examples. The ads for products show elaborate family celebrations and parties for friends. Christmas specials and made-for-TV movies set a standard our lives can never meet. No matter what problems or calamities may befall the characters, by the end of the story all is well. Décor is perfect. Parties are successful. Family issues are always resolved. When our lives don’t follow the same path, we feel like holiday failures!

Father, we pray that we are able to keep to the true spirit of Christmas in every coming year. We ask for You to strengthen us against the influences that pull us away from celebrating the birth of Your Son, Jesus, sent by you to be our Savior. Hear our prayer, O’ God. Amen.