Christmas 2020 Amidst Broken Dreams

Broken dreams? Should this be the focus of CandyceLand just a few days before Christmas? Well, yes, I believe so.  As I learned from GriefShare, Christmas is the "Sufferers Holiday"  because Jesus' birth marks the beginning of the end of suffering, pain, and broken dreams. It gives us the best reason ever to celebrate. Jesus was born in poverty and slept in a feeding trough, yet His humble birth leads to the death of all tragedies, hurts, tears, even to the death of death itself. 

But in the meantime, we live in the here and now on this side of heaven in 2020. While the future looks glorious, we do admit that some days it feels pretty bleak. Vaneetha Rendall Risner has written a wonderful article on how to reconcile this already/not yet life that we live. As a reminder, Vaneetha has the credentials for writing such an article - a firm and faithful believer and yet she has lived with immeasurable sorrows and physical trials since she was a very young girl. 

"Twenty-one surgeries (polio) by age thirteen. Years in the hospital. Verbal and physical bullying from schoolmates. Multiple miscarriages as a young wife. The death of a child (due to physician error). A debilitating progressive disease (now in≥ a wheelchair). Abandonment. Unwanted divorce." (From the back cover of her book The Scars That Have Shaped Me: How God Meets Us In Suffering.)

If you have time during this busiest of weeks, please read Vaneetha's perspective on this subject. And then reflect upon the following excerpt from "Joy To the World." Only with this solid hope of Christ's coming kingdom can we celebrate Christmas with the joy it deserves.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love

And wonders, wonders, of His love.

CandyceLand Invites You to Join In a Resolution To Read The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards was one of the most famous, and some would say, one of the most faithful and influential Minsters of the Gospel in American history. He was born in 1703 and died in 1758. Edwards was used mightily in The Great Awakening - an amazing spiritual revival in the US that took place in the 18th Century.

When Edwards was 18 or 19 years old, he wrote 70 resolutions that he hoped would keep him faithful and true to all of Scripture. I discovered them many years ago and thought they were wonderful, but somehow still seemed to lose track of them in the busyness of life. I recently came across them once again, and have made my own "resolution" to read one of these each day beginning on January 1st. Lord willing, and with His help, perhaps this is one resolution I will actually keep! 

Would anyone like to join me in reading one per day? The daily time commitment is 1 minute for reading and hopefully all day to contemplate their application to our individual lives. 😊

I have provided two links to choose from. Each has its own benefits. The first divides Jonathan Edwards' 70 Resolutions into topics and the second just lists them in the numerical way in which Edwards wrote them.

Topically: Click Here

In Numerical Sequence: Click Here

The Story Behind The Song

In case you didn't know this, CandyceLand has been around for a long, long time. I just checked and I've been writing since early August of 2009 - so more than 11 years. I often joke with people that if ever they experience insomnia they should feel free to read the 478 blogposts that I've written - a sure cure to make you fall asleep. 😂

Anyway, I digress a bit. Back 'in the day' I used to devote many articles to the "Story Behind the Song," meaning the background to the writing of sacred hymns. Somehow understanding how God used certain circumstances to plant music and words in a composition that we still sing today is both heart-wrenching AND beautiful. 

I have written before about my tendency to cry while singing hymns. Often it occurs because the words and music of a song touch my very soul, reaching down and taking hold of my emotions. Sometimes though, I cry because of the story behind the writing of these hymns. And most often it's a combination of the words, music, and personal history of the hymn writer that make me weep the most. 

Here is today's offering in a beautiful format. I was amazed to see and hear a wonderful performance of the history behind "It Is Well With My Soul."  Most of us know the story already, but this particular presentation is worth experiencing. It is narrated by Hugh Bonneville, known to many of us as Lord Grantham of Downton Abbey fame. What an orator! 

So when you have time, sit back (for 16 mins and 40 seconds) with your favorite cup of tea and a box of tissues and thank God that His sovereignty, even in the midst of sometimes devastating afflictions, has led to many precious songs that encourage us even centuries later. Enjoy!

Click Here To Watch