All I Want for Christmas: Filling the Void of Loneliness

"It's that time of year, when the world falls in love; Every song you hear seems to say, Merry Christmas! May your New Year dreams come true." (The Christmas Waltz) 

Christmas is in the air. You can hear the holiday classics blaring in every department store. The month of December is full of Christmas parties, church cantatas, neighborhood caroling and exchange gifts with those you love. 

It certainly seems like the "time of year when the world falls in love" and everyone appears to be...happier. But the glaring truth for those who deal with loneliness is, it seems to be that time of year when the world has a significant other except you. 

Keep Calm and Carry On: Five Secrets to Overcoming Depression

Coffee mugs, t-shirts and other decorative items have advertised this popular meme for a number of years. This phrasal fad extends to a wide variety of spin offs "Keep Calm and you-fill-in-the-blank". Originally produced by the British government in 1939, this slogan was intended to boost the spirit of the British people on the brink of the Second World War.

Why has it become so popular in today's culture? Is it just a clever quote with numerous spin offs or is this meme pointing to a deeper need in our messed up world? Last December I was going through a stressful time trying to juggle the normal holiday busyness while also preparing for our trip to Australia. I was busy, stressed, worried and sleep deprived.

A week before we left for Australia I received a Keep Calm mug as a gift. Late nights at my desk, my gaze would drift to the writing on that cup. "Keep Calm and Carry On!" but to tell you the truth, I was too exhausted to "carry on". 

Our culture has adopted a positive thinking attitude with the mindset that we are invincible. But research from the Anxiety and Depression Association of American shows otherwise: Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population).

Whether you and I admittedly label it a bad day or a difficult season of life, the fact of the matter is that we all struggle with depression at some point or another.

Six Ways to Fight Discouragement

You give and pour into the lives of others. Epic victory. The trip ends. Your body crashes. Emotionally you feel zapped. Weeks later you are still processing all the amazing things God has done and yet deep inside you feel numb. 

You feel alone even when surrounded by people. Discouragement grips your heart and life seems burdensome.

Our weakest moments rarely come in the midst of our greatest battle but in the aftermath of the victory. 

A Forgetful Heart is an Ungrateful Heart

Things weren't going my way. Driving alone in the car I desperately began to pray, "God, what are you doing? What am I doing wrong?" It was more of a frustrated plea to God as I questioned His timing and motive.

You're probably thinking Laurie, you talked to God that way? Yes, but God already knew my frustration and the thoughts that were running through my head. By expressing it to Him I was directing my "out of tune" heart back to the Master Musician who could then tune me back to Truth.

When Your World Falls Apart

Praying for your family...

Praying for others can be a very exciting and passionate experience. When we pray for persecuted Christians, the President, a nation’s government, drug dealers and murderers, Hollywood, or revival in your city, we often feel like we are tackling head-on what really matters, chinking away at the big problems in our world, prayer by prayer.

But how often do we pray for those people in our lives that we see every day? The people who we live with day in and day out, who know our ugliest flaws as we know theirs, and who are often times the hardest  to love, and the hardest to forgive? How frequently to do we spend long, sacrificial hours, or even a dedicated number of MINUTES every single day praying for our family?