Dear Family and Friends,
A while back, I was working on a project when a young woman came to stand beside me. She leaned over and started talking. I was busy and had a lot to do so I listened with one ear and half my brain. She didn’t seem to mind and kept talking. I kept working—until she said, “Will you take my baby?”
At that moment both halves of my brain kicked in and all of my heart. I turned to look her full in the face so we could have a real conversation. This wasn’t the first request I’d had like this. Earlier that week another young woman had asked if I would be her mother.
Belonging. It is a powerful thing.
At this time of year, we gather with family, friends and neighbors. We go to church and greet people that make up our very comfortable world circle. We stand in the glow of belonging.
But what if you don’t?
What if there is no one who claims you? What if no one welcomes you to their circle of light? What if your world is alone in the dark?
It is Christmas, the time to celebrate light coming to darkness. It is easy to sing and shop and bake and forget that the Light was turned away—there was no room in any of the better places in Bethlehem.
But the Light found its way to a stable; dark, musty and solitary, and created light where there was none.
On that night the Light was born, creating a circle of warmth, richness and life—beckoning a dark and dying world to come, enter, belong. To bask in the circle of light.
Light created belonging—forever.
For some of us, the darkness is physical and profound. For others, it is hidden but nonetheless real. Rich or poor we walk in a land absent of Light—but for Him.
This Christmas, stretch the circle wider, and invite others to walk in the circle of belonging—that He has given.
We are grateful for you,
Bob and Linda
