TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
A s I sat down to write my final article of 2023, deep in thought about what I wanted to say, I realized I could take the typical route. I could share the highs and lows of the year, all the lessons learned, or even complain about how another year has passed and I’m still not famous. I know, heartbreaking stuff.
In this thing we call life, it’s way too easy to get consumed by our own daily dramas. We find ourselves submerged in a culture that has made an absolute sport out of self-absorption. We numb and distract ourselves from life’s monotony and hardships with our
plethora of vices. After all, isn’t the month of December supposed to be full of the magic of the season that the media, movies, and television shows have tried to sell us for decades? Undoubtedly, in this year’s Christmas
ads, whether on TV or your phone, you’ll see the bright and shiny faces of people tearing open Christmas presents, twinkling lights, wonderment, friends laughing and shopping together, Christmas trees glowing, and families gathered around the table with rehearsed smiles on their faces. However, beyond the glittering facade, they don’t show the seasonal depression, the families divided by petty disagreements, the children who don’t have Christmas presents because their parents can’t afford them, or those who spend Christmas all alone. This is a little grim, I know—it’s not the holiday spirit we have all come to count on, but there are gleeful articles about Christmas to be read all over the place. This article is for the people who are hurting, the single parents who are stressed, and the children who are too busy worrying about things children shouldn’t have to worry about. Reflecting on my own Christmases brings me back to my strong mother. I was blessed with a single mom who went above and beyond to make sure we had the unnecessary materialistic things we asked for but we didn’t really need every Christmas. My brothers and I were spoiled and never went without, while my mom sacrificed her own wants and desires for us. This is not everyone’s story. If the holidays are a hard time for you, if you’ve lost a loved one that’s not here to celebrate Christmas with you, if you’re separated from your family, if you’re lonely, if you’re experiencing anxiety and depression, know that you are valued and loved, and you are eternally beautiful in Jesus’ sight. No matter what you have done, who you’ve hurt, mistakes you’ve made, you ARE special. How I wish more than anything I could wrap my arms around you and let you vent, cry, and tell your story. I would listen with zero judgment, love you, and laugh with you until you remembered that joy is possible; we both know it is still there, even if it is a little buried right now. The real Christmas miracle in December, 2023, is people being kind. A warm smile, a hug, a friend asking you to go to dinner along with an “I hear you,” and “What you are feeling is valid.” Everything in today’s culture is constantly about building up ourselves and
GOOD EVENING TXK COLUMN BY BAILEY GRAVITT
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