A Merry Heart

December 23, 2024

The presents are wrapped, well, most of them anyway. The grocery shopping is done; at least I don’t dare brave the traffic at this point! I’ll make do with whatever food we have here. The decorations have long been set out and arranged.

There seems to be more loose ends than I can possibly weave together before the arrival of Christmas, but my heart is still merry. I look with joy on my littles, happily playing with their new toys from dear church folk. I snap pictures of little hands finding any morsels of cookie dough left in the bowl. The blessings are so many, and God is so good.

In Christmases past, I chose, like Scrooge, to neglect the blessings and focus on the irritations. All the many things that didn’t go my way irked me: the gift I didn’t get, too many gifts for the kids, stressful interactions, and special events that we didn’t have time to do. I let a sour attitude spoil this special time of year.

Yet the more God works a daily posture of gratitude into my heart and will, my heart softens and the irritations are no longer so irritating. The stresses seem small, and my eyes focus on the blessings like my camera adjusting on its subject.

There’s much that can crush our spirits at this time of year: dashed expectations, unfulfilled dreams, family heartbreaks, and personal loss or hurt. Yet we can choose to have a merry heart, one that works good for our own souls and brings balm to our hurts. Oh, we are not the source of our own healing, but when we look to the Source of our healing with joyful anticipation and surrendered attitudes, God pours salve into our aching hearts.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

When I choose a merry heart, instead of a broken one, God works a medicinal work in my heart, rubbing soothing peace into those wounded cuts and scrapes.

How do I know? Oh, I know. When I have chosen a sour attitude, an ungrateful spirit, and licked my wounds in self-pity, I received no grace. But when I look up at the Giver of all grace, He fills my heart with Himself, and as I see Him, His glory radiates through my whole heart, warming it with the steady glow of His goodness.

Friends, I wish you a truly Merry Christmas not because your circumstances may be perfect but because God is good. Jesus has come, and we can have joy! He came as a babe and left triumphantly as our Savior, and someday He is coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! If you would ever like to know more of this joy, please never hesitate to contact me at ashley@ashleyqurollo.com.

Merry Christmas!

-Ashley

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