Christmas traditions are great! But how many of us have found ourselves at some point in a holiday season carrying on “the tradition,” but the reality is very different? Traditions sometimes can cause us to focus on the “joy” of Christmas while ignoring the harder or more painful parts of the season. This only makes the season harder and more challenging. We’re told, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” but what do we do when it doesn’t feel like it? We continue our Christmas series, Fulfilled: His Promise Kept, Our Longing Met, where we will discover how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises to us. While exploring scripture that is not part of the “traditional” Christmas texts, we’re going to see, it has a lot to say to us when dealing with the painful parts of the holiday season and our lives in general. Jesus’ birth doesn’t ignore the reality of pain or suffering, it highlights it. Listen to our fourth message in our series, A Blue Christmas, and embrace that in Jesus, our mourning turns to hope!