Christmas cards and letters are often a place to list all of the wonderful things you and your family accomplished and experienced during the year. So often we’ll just tell the good things—How great the year was, how wonderful our children are, how beautiful life is for us.
Where it is important to show our gratitude by praising the good things of our life, sometimes we avoid recognizing the growing moments (or bad experiences) that truly influenced our testimonies for good.
Granted, no one wants to read a Christmas letter saying, “We weathered another hurricane that took our home and all of our belongings, but we are managing with the help of good Samaritans and our government.”
But, at the same time, no one wants to read that “I was forced to go to Paris, to visit relatives once again, and enjoyed a nice dinner on the Seine” either. And we like even less to hear that “there’s nothing new at our house!”
Why don’t we ever hear important things about people’s real lives? I personally would like to hear if my friends worked on their food storage throughout the year and if they feel they were successful in building it in a useful way. Or maybe their year was hard and they had to rely on their storage. Maybe it wasn’t as good as they thought it was. I would like to hear what they learned. It might encourage me to improve my own situation.
What if friends were to share with you news of the death of a beloved child and how that feeling of loss drew them closer to their Heavenly Father in a way they never thought possible.
Each year we all experience some kind of growth. Hopefully, that growth moves us upward, and while we’re at it, wouldn’t it be nice to testify to, exemplify for, or motivate loved ones to grow upward as well through our words and wishes?
I’m kind of tired of the false cheer that erupts from a Christmas envelope insisting that life is grand. Here are a few thoughts I hope friends will share with us in their Christmas greeting this year:
This year has been full of one blessing after another, although we didn’t immediately see it as such. Our knowledge and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to cling to the iron rod and move forward.
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We lost grandma this year and felt rich as we reviewed her life and teachings. She didn’t leave much in the way of personal wealth, but we found her journals and her heart spoke to each one of us. We have all been inspired to write more regularly in our own journals that we might add to her legacy and history. We’ve also learned how important it is to have a will and a living trust. Putting ours in order has been an eye opening experience, but one that will truly bless many lives in the future.
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Employment was down this year, but we were able to survive out of our savings and storage. We learned to be creative, and content, and how to prepare better for next time. Making bread from our own whole wheat this year has taught us new skills. Our bodies have finally adjusted and we can now appreciate the healthful benefits. We encourage you to introduce your bodies to this historically wholesome lifestyle.
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Our year has been spent fighting addiction at our house. We testify that addiction is real and the Atonement is the only freedom. We encourage you to ferret out that which causes you to love anything better than Christ Jesus. We ask for your prayers that we may continually live day to day with the help of the Spirit of the Lord. And we pray for you and yours as well.
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May your future be healthy. Ours was a trial this year with a series of surgeries and discouragement filling our days. However, the silver lining has come through, because we have felt the loving arms of our Savior around us holding us and blessing us.
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We have employment and are able to enjoy nice things in our lives, but as we listen to our prophets we know this is a time to prepare, so we have boosted our savings, our storage, and our love for one another. Where the world might urge us to proudly display our success we have a testimony that family is everything and have chosen to see to our future needs when trouble comes.
Well, you get the idea. Everyone struggles with trials here and there throughout the year. And where I don’t advise sharing dirty laundry or overexposed sorrow around, I do hope you’ll consider sharing how the gospel has lifted you when life has been lived. Share your gratitude, share your testimony, share your learning curves, so others can benefit and be converted once again.