Bitter and Sweet

Here it is the last day of December, not to mention the last day of the year, and I haven't written anything this month.  Our calendar has been packed with celebration, so why don't I feel like writing?  Even this post is just an attempt to check the "December box" with a self-imposed obligatory update.  Two words capture the Christmas holiday season in my mind: bitter and sweet.  For me, it is so different from Thanksgiving where the overwhelming theme is one of gratitude. 

We started off the month with a luxurious overnight in Dallas celebrating our anniversary.  The hotel staff greeted us with enormous strawberries completely covered in dark chocolate.  Kyle insisted that I should try them, as they were beyond delicious, but I just couldn't.  Bitter and sweet do not mix well in my mind (or my taste buds).   Still, I wonder if I'm missing something.  Is there something profoundly good in the mixture of these two "tastes". 

So much of life is a combination of bitter and sweet moments and the Christmas season seems to magnify this experience for me.  With all of the joy and festivity (sweetness) surrounding the holidays, I tend to be sad this time of year, especially mindful of great loss (bitterness) in our lives.  Every time I turn on the computer or the television, I read another story of tragedy and suffering.  Just yesterday, I read a blog post of a young mother suffering well; I was stunned as she wove the bitterness of a life crushing disease with the sweetness of her faith in Christ.   Unlike this dear saint, I am relatively untouched by the harsh realities of life in a fallen world or of a broken body.  Her testimony of faith (see below) including the strength and peace that comes only from the Lord Jesus encourages my soul as I anticipate 2015.

Happy New Year, friends!  May we taste the sweetness of God's amazing grace in the year ahead and be transformed by "the hope of Christmas".  


http://myjourneywithibc.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-hope-of-christmas.html?m=1