Hope for the Hurting

I made this card for a friend today. Her husband lost his job and is unemployed...again. I feel for her. We were there just three years ago. The economic world is so unpredictable. With ten percent of the country now unemployed, it looks like it will be a difficult holiday season for many families this year.

Our fabulous St. Louis pastor, Stephen Hower, had once mentioned in a sermon that a company may downsize you, but God will never downsize you. God is faithful, and we can rely on Him 24/7. That was an extremely difficult time for our family, but it was also filled with great blessings. That's one of the mysteries about suffering. We learn to fully rely on God's goodness and mercy. We learn that we may think we are in control of our lives, but we are not. All it takes is one...one phone call, one pink slip, one medical diagnosis, and we see that we control very little of our lives.

I found these words to be so comforting this week:

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4: 8-9

We have hope.

A lot of people will need to hear that message of hope this holiday. How will you share the hope that is in Christ Jesus this Christmas?

{recipe: Deck the Door (The Saltbox Studio), cajun craze cardstock, soft suede ink and card stock, prisma markers, linen thread, word window punch, modern label punch, copper brads, Moda fabric}