Coffee for Your Heart Archives

Who Else Wants a Less Stressful Christmas?

The best way to celebrate the birth of the Child is with faith like a child.

{my graphics are free goodies for you}

Confession: I often approach the Christmas season like a project. I want everything to look just like the holiday special I saw on television or the spread from the magazine. I make lists of all I need to do. I envision perfectly wrapped packages and lovely treats lining the kitchen counters. The house will stay clean and the lights will glow. My celebration of the Savior will be as peaceful as the nativity scene sitting serenely on my fireplace mantle.

But invariably chaos breaks out. Nothing goes as planned. My efforts fall short. I end up frustrated and stressed. Then I feel like I’ve let God down—that I somehow haven’t fulfilled His vision for what Christmas should be. Yet as I watched my giddy nephews build the messiest, most lop-sided ginger bread house I’d ever seen I remembered the words of Jesus, “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14).

I realized all over again in that moment that childlike faith is what God wants and it must be different than what I often picture. Surely it’s messier, wilder and more full of grace. It doesn’t care so much about the result as the relationship. It makes room for laughter and chases away expectations. It’s about delight and wonder, humility and self-forgetfulness.

I’m not entirely sure about the fate of the infamous gingerbread house. I didn’t bring it home with me but I did take a truth that’s setting my heart free: The best way to celebrate the birth of the Child is with faith like a child.

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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Can I send you a gift this Christmas?

If you need an extra dose of encouragement, I’ve created this with you in mind: an exclusive, limited-time-only ebook called Hope for the Holidays.

It’s free! Find all the details right here.

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When the World Seems Dark, Let’s Remember Light Always Wins in the End

by Holley 13 Comments

{my graphics are free goodies for you}

Hard news drifts in from the television that’s on in the other room as I sit at my desk and try to write. Heartbreaking headlines. Scary statistics. Pessimistic predictions. It seems peace is nowhere to be found on this planet and the night is anything but silent.

Feeling overwhelmed and helpless I silently ask, “Lord, what do You want me to do about all of this?” And it seems I hear a quiet whisper within my heart: “The only way to get rid of darkness is to add more light.”

Our Savior knows there will always be news headlines like the ones I heard. They existed the night He was born as a baby in Bethlehem and will continue until He comes again. But He also knows that because of what He did on the cross and through His resurrection the darkness has already been defeated.

So every time we see a Christmas light this year let’s remember this invitation and celebration: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The darkness will not last forever. The light always wins in the end. And we can all make this world a little brighter wherever we are today.

Amen?

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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If Thanksgiving was hard for you this year or if you need an extra dose of encouragement as we look toward Christmas, I hope my free ebook will be just what you’re looking for!

For a limited time, this new ebook — Hope for the Holidays — is free! Get all the details here.

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Let’s Pour Grace Like Gravy Over Everything Today

by Holley 16 Comments

{my graphics are free goodies for you}

I’m sitting at a table full of women one evening and we’re talking about how noisy and stressful this time of year can be, how the expectations and busyness can make us feel like we’re continually falling short. Someone says, “A friend once told me that God’s voice is always kind. So if what I’m hearing in my heart or mind isn’t kind then it’s not from God.”

These words follow me out the door that night like a line of loyal ducklings. When I wake up the next morning they are still there waiting to be considered. It seems so obvious but I’ve not thought of it quite this way before. I reflect on the internal accusations and expectations I sometimes hear.

“You need to do more.”

“You have to make everything perfect.”

“You should please everyone.”

These mandates might push me to be outwardly compliant but the tone is always one of harshness and criticism. When I hear such things I feel guilt and shame.

We will all have times in our journey when we find ourselves broken and feeling unworthy. In those moments we can hide. We can let guilt and shame tell us we no longer have a place in God’s family. Or we can come to the table and take as many helpings of mercy as we need. We can pour grace over it all like gravy. We can say to God, “Thank You for loving me as I am and loving me enough to not let me stay that way. Amen.”

This Thanksgiving I feel grateful for grace, for second chances, for a God who loves me even in my brokenness, who calls me His beloved daughter.

What’s one thing you’re grateful for this Thanksgiving?

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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This post is part of a series based on my exclusive, limited-time only ebook, Hope for the Holidays. You’ll get it free when you order Hope Your Heart Needs: 52 Encouraging Reminders of How God Cares for You, a little devotional that’s big on encouragement and perfect for Christmas gifts. Get all the details about the free ebook here.

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Being Grateful Ain’t Always Easy (Or Is It Just Me?)

by Holley 21 Comments

{my graphics are free goodies for you}

Despite the holidays pics we may see on Instagram and Pinterest, I’m learning giving thanks isn’t always tidy. Mine is often more like the popsicle stick craft gone terribly wrong than the perfect, Martha-Stewart-approved creations I sometimes see. Yep, gratitude sounds simple but it can be awkward and messy. It takes guts and courage.

During one hard holiday season I felt as split wide open by hurt as the poor turkey on the table. When I tried to be grateful the feelings wouldn’t come. I was ashamed of this. Wouldn’t a good Christian be able to be grateful even now?

Then God, in all His gracious tenderness, began showing me that gratefulness is a decision and not an emotion. He understood that my heart and mind and body were in a hard fight. He didn’t demand that I dance across the battlefield as arrows whizzed by me. He knew the best I could do most days was stand my ground and that when I said, “Thank You, God, that You are still good” through gritted teeth with tears streaming down my face and dirt on my knees, it was an act of worship.

Sometimes gratitude looks like sitting down to a meal with those we love, holding a butter knife and spreading goodness across a hot roll. But sometimes it’s holding a sword of truth and being at war; it’s fighting the darkness with every bit of our hearts and souls. Perhaps our gratitude isn’t always Pinterest-perfect…but it’s always deeply powerful.

What’s one thing you’re grateful for today?

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Even at the Holidays

by Holley 14 Comments

{my graphics are free goodies for you}

A friend and I manage to find a quiet corner in the middle of a holiday celebration. We share a quick hug and then I ask about a recent loss in her life. She shrugs her shoulders then leans in to whisper a confession: “It’s supposed to be ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ But it’s just not for me.”

I think back to the many Thanksgivings and Christmases that have felt the same in my life. My husband and I struggled with infertility for about a decade before God led us to our adopted daughter. The holidays seemed to highlight our hurt. As a counselor facilitating grief support groups and working with individual clients, I often heard similar thoughts. And even without major difficulties in our lives, we can still be overwhelmed by extra-busy schedules, family tensions or endless to-do lists.

So let’s all get honest for a minute and admit while there’s a lot to thank God for and rejoice about, we also live in a fallen, broken world. Jesus understands that because it’s the one He came to on our behalf. Once we admit we’re not “fine” then we can breathe a sigh of relief, remember we’re all in this together, and start making a plan that will help us when the holidays are hard (mine will include pie).

The host of the party gathers us around a table piled high with evidence of God’s goodness and abundance. We’re each asked to share a blessing in our lives. When it’s my friend’s turn she says, “I’m grateful God loves me even when I’m a mess.” Now that’s a truth worth celebrating. We don’t have to hold it together during the holidays this year because we serve a God who holds us close to His heart.

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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