Caring For Life

The Real Meaning of Christmas
by Jonathan Parkinson
<< previous articles

Christmas time can hold happy memories of joyful times, especially for those of us who have had the privilege of experiencing the love of family and friends. At Christmas, those who love the Lord remember that ultimate gift of love, God's gift in sending his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to come and save us from the mess which we are all in; the God man who knows our every weakness, and who is our closest and dearest friend, our loyal ally in our lifelong struggle against sin's temptations and condemnations.

To be part of God's family, and to know Jesus as your personal, special friend, is the only real source of true peace and happiness.

Christmas means nothing more than unhappiness to many in our care, it emphasizes the desperate loneliness with which they live. Questions consume their minds, “Why doesn't my Mum care about me?” or “Why can't I have a real family?” and “How can there be a God? look at my life.” These and many other issues fill their minds, all of which make those in our care very unhappy, especially when they see all the happy images connected to Christmastime.

This Christmas, we will again do all we can to enable those in our care to experience something of Jesus' love, through the way in which we love them and in how we make them feel valued as human beings, worthy of love and respect.

Our prayer is that we will be able to talk openly about the real meaning of Christmas and our prayer is that those who come here to be involved in the meals and parties that prepare on, will see something of our Saviour's love for them. We will be taking a food hamper to all those in our care who live alone in the community. Each person will receive one or two presents and a Christmas card. These ladies and gentlemen do not have Christmas cards hung all around their homes. The only cards some will receive will be through Caring For Life. This simple expression of love can make a huge difference.

But also, our prayer for those who will be alone and isolated in their thoughts this Christmas, is that they would be kept safe and that they too would experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, directing their thoughts away from their torments towards the One who can release them from their nightmares, our Saviour, friend, and God, Jesus Christ.


	The Real Meaning of Christmas *by Jonathan Parkinson* << previous articles Christmas time can hold happy memories of joyful times, especially for those of us who have had the privilege of experiencing the love of family and friends. At Christmas, those who love the Lord remember that ultimate gift of love, God's gift in sending his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to come and save us from the mess which we are all in; the God man who knows our every weakness, and who is our closest and dearest friend, our loyal ally in our lifelong struggle against sin's temptations and condemnations. To be part of God's family, and to know Jesus as your personal, special friend, is the only real source of true peace and happiness. Christmas means nothing more than unhappiness to many in our care, it emphasizes the desperate loneliness with which they live. Questions consume their minds, “Why doesn't my Mum care about me?” or “Why can't I have a real family?” and “How can there be a God? look at my life.” These and many other issues fill their minds, all of which make those in our care very unhappy, especially when they see all the happy images connected to Christmastime. This Christmas, we will again do all we can to enable those in our care to experience something of Jesus' love, through the way in which we love them and in how we make them feel valued as human beings, worthy of love and respect. Our prayer is that we will be able to talk openly about the real meaning of Christmas and our prayer is that those who come here to be involved in the meals and parties that prepare on, will see something of our Saviour's love for them. We will be taking a food hamper to all those in our care who live alone in the community. Each person will receive one or two presents and a Christmas card. These ladies and gentlemen do not have Christmas cards hung all around their homes. The only cards some will receive will be through Caring For Life. This simple expression of love can make a huge difference. But also, our prayer for those who will be alone and isolated in their thoughts this Christmas, is that they would be kept safe and that they too would experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, directing their thoughts away from their torments towards the One who can release them from their nightmares, our Saviour, friend, and God, Jesus Christ.		All having fun in the snow together. Kate who recently became a Christian shows each day that she is much happier and contented. Michael (like all our young people in the CFL family) is very happy to see Esther back at work.