We’ve been blessed with some lovely weather so far in November. Today is one of those gray days that can easily turn a smile into a frown and steal our joy. Since it’s also throw back Thursday, I thought I’d share an older post from 2019.

The grey skies of November are upon us up here in Lake Woebegone.  All the green grass has pretty much faded into oblivion – covered with a rich blanket of mulch, fallen softly from dying trees.  It seems to be one of the most depressing months as well. For some reason, the glory of color has faded into the earth -burrowing deeply into the recesses of the soil to wither and die.  If there was no thought of spring, you might call this month unbearable.  We long for that first glistening snowfall to cover up the garbage – to give a clean face to the environment – even though the temperatures will fall and cause us to seek refuge in our warm homes.

All the Christmas movies and every Christmas decoration on the shelves, beckons us to turn our thoughts to merriment and joy, but we wonder why.  There may be no additional cash to buy gifts this year.  Even at 50% off, we find the price tags a bit too exorbitant to bring on the credit cards.  Maybe a job has been lost, or an expected bonus didn’t happen this year.  Maybe a pressing illness requires your dollar bills rather than a trip to Amazon.

Whatever the case may be, we’re actually setting ourselves up for a great disappointment if this is all there is.  If we have tuned out the true message of Christmas and turned it into another way to buy our children’s love or impress a colleague, the grey days of November will have nowhere else to go, but a bleak December.

Thanksgiving should be preparing us for this Christian holiday.  For one full year, we anticipate the coming of Christ.  We long to celebrate His birthday.  To offer thanks for every blessing He has already laid at our feet. Soon the Advent season will be upon us, giving us time to contemplate the greatest gift of Christmas.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  Isaiah 9:6