Usually I gain a few holiday pounds during the Christmas season. I enjoy baking, cooking, and indulging in all the extra holiday treats at family gatherings and parties. But….this year was different.

Although I never had an official diagnosis (I figured it may have been some kind of virus, since it disappeared after a week), I experienced pain along the right side of my jaw, throat, and radiating up to my ear. Eating food brought searing pain instead of enjoyment.

I still enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies with my boys, but being unable to nibble on the delicious treats was SO disappointing! It definitely took some of the sparkle out of our yearly tradition.

As I made our favorite dark chocolate fudge, I tried a tiny bit.

I paid for it when the pain of chewing made my eyes well up with tears. What??? No fudge for Christmas?

At our Christmas Eve family gathering, I carefully ate a few tablespoons of food, cut into small pieces. Christmas Day I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, absolutely starving. But realizing that a trek out to the kitchen for a bite to eat would only result in more pain, I rolled over and eventually went back to sleep.

After a few days, my pain lessened and I was able to eat normally again. At our New Year’s party, I took great delight in partaking in a host of sweet treats! 🙂

But that week of being unable to eat while EVERYONE around me was feasting?

Well, that was NOT fun.

Watching my friends and family eating with great pleasure only heightened the empty feeling in my stomach.

That’s the way of pain, isn’t it? The joy of others can send us spiraling into more pain, even when we fight against it.

I’ve seen this pain in the unshed tears of the woman whose arms are still empty after years of praying, while she sits quietly through yet another baby shower. Yes, she’s happy for her friend, but her heart aches with unfulfilled dreams of motherhood.

I’ve seen this pain in the eyes of the girl who has worn many bridesmaids dresses, but no bridal gown. The years keep passing, and still she goes home alone every night, wondering if God has forgotten her.

I’ve seen this pain on the worn faces of sweet widows at anniversary celebrations. They smile and offer their congratulations, but their hearts ache for their loved ones gone before them into Heaven.

And I’ve experienced the pain of slipping off my wedding ring for the last time, then going to church and seeing a man slip his arm around his wife and pull her close. Yes, I was happy for them. But their joy seemed to make the pain of my heart cut deeper.

My friend, I’m here to tell you there is One Who understands your pain. Jesus left the bliss and beauty of Heaven to come to earth to save us. And while He was here, He suffered every pain we experience.

Although He could have whisked away all the physical and emotional pain He faced, He chose to endure it. He suffered loss, betrayal, and distrust. He offered His love freely and was rejected, mocked, and abused. Eventually He was crucified, enduring unimaginable physical pain.

Scripture tells us that because Jesus experienced everything we face, He is able to help us.

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)

Jesus is able to comfort you in your pain, because He has already gone through it. He knows the ache of loneliness, the sting of betrayal, and the pain of rejection.

He knows.

And not only does He know, He will one day erase that pain for all of eternity.

We read in Revelation 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”

All the pain that fills your heart today won’t even be a memory. It will be forever gone.

I once heard a preacher describe eternity this way:

Imagine if a sparrow had the strength to fly around the earth without stopping for years on end. Each time the sparrow flies over Mount Everest, it touches the tip of its wing on the top of the mountain. Then it flies another circuit around the entire world.

When Mount Everest is worn flat from the feathers of the sparrow’s wing, eternity has just begun.

Yes, the pain cuts deep today. But one day, it will be gone forever.

And until that day, Jesus our Comforter holds us safe in His arms.

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

For information on my devotional book, Tales from Toddlers, click HERE.

Have you ever been walking through your house (or galloping, if you’re a mom on a mission) and slammed your little toe into a piece of furniture? What happens in that moment? The pain stops you, overwhelms you, and causes you to completely change your actions. You may hop around on one foot, howling like a banshee (whatever that is). Or you might stand in complete silence, grasping your foot and biting your tongue until the pain subsides. Or you may scream at the top of your lungs.

But one thing is for certain.

The pain affects you and causes you to do things you were NOT planning on doing mere moments before.

That’s the way of pain. We can’t help but be affected by it. The following points are taken from a sermon preached by my brother, Jim Brooks, seven weeks after losing his wife. He was barely two months into his journey of pain, but felt that God wanted him to share the things he was learning. Though his pain comes from losing his wife at the young age of 40, these truths apply to many types of pain, both physical and emotional. (The points in italics are taken directly from his sermon. The paragraphs below each point are my paraphrase.)

One: Pain brings a natural desire for that pain to be alleviated, and a willingness to do almost anything to lessen the pain.

Be aware that pain will open you up to do things you never thought you’d do in a desperate attempt to dull the pain. This is why so many people spiral into substance abuse and toxic relationships while in emotional pain. Even as Christians, we can turn to “less sinful” behaviors to lessen the pain, such as excessive entertainment, isolation, or eating disorders. These things may dull the pain for awhile, but they cause more pain in the long run. (Proverbs 23:29-35)

Two: Pain can cause you to have a solely inward focus.

While in pain, it’s easy to dwell completely on ourselves. We are the ones suffering after all, right? But this too will bring more pain in the end. We know that one of the best ways to be comforted is to find someone in more pain than yourself and minister to them. Thus focusing completely on ourselves results in keeping us from one of the very things that will help us heal. (II Corinthians 7:13; Acts 20:35)

Three: Pain can cause you to live in isolation.

The devil absolutely knows that we are stronger together. He will do anything he can to keep you from fellow Christians. He will highlight the hypocrisy of fellow believers and whisper the lie that no one has ever gone through what you are feeling. Though isolation might make you feel better in the moment, it certainly won’t contribute to your well-being and healing. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Four: Pain can cause you to lose all vision, goals, and desire for the future.

Pain overwhelms you and makes you think there is no hope for tomorrow. It blinds you and brings despair. It whispers the lie that there is nothing good left to live for—no reason to even get out of bed in the morning. (Proverbs 29:18)

Five: Pain can cause even loving people to lose their compassion.

How many of us have ever tried to help an animal in pain? It’s a dangerous proposition, and a nasty bite is often the result. Even though you are simply trying to help, the animal doesn’t understand and will lash out in its pain. It’s the same with people. Hurting people tend to hurt other people. It’s not an excuse, but it can be a reason. (I Peter 3:8)

Six: Pain can cause you to become suspicious, distrustful, and cynical of those around you.

This point is especially true if you are dealing with emotional pain caused by the sin of another person. Betrayal can make you think everyone will betray you. Lies and gossip can lead you to believe even genuine friendships are fake. A woman and her children may feel that all men will hurt them after being abandoned by their husband and father. It’s easy to become suspicious of everyone when you are hurt by a few people, or even one person. (Psalm 55:12-14, 22)

Seven: Pain can cause foolishness and wisdom to change places in your mind.

We can better understand how wisdom and foolishness change places when we remember Point One—Pain brings a natural desire for that pain to be alleviated, and a willingness to do almost anything to lesson the pain. Because we are desperate to find anything to make us feel better in the moment, wisdom goes flying out the window. We choose to engage in activities that we wouldn’t have considered before, had we not been in pain. (Proverbs 2:6)

Eight: Pain can steal good memories of the past.

This point is vividly seen in the life of Job. Job lost everything—his wealth, his children, his health. Covered from head to toe in painful boils, he sat in ashes and mourned. In extreme physical and emotional pain, he cursed the day of his birth. The pain of his present anguish wiped out every single moment of goodness in his life, and he wanted to die. Our pain can cause us to focus on all the bad things that have happened to us, completely obliterating all the good memories God has given us. (Job 3:1-3)

Nine: Pain can rob you of all hope of the future.

The anguish of present pain can cloud your vision so badly that you believe you have absolutely nothing to look forward to in your life. Not only that, it can dim your view of heaven, making you forget the eternal bliss that awaits you as a child of God. (Job 3:11)

Each of these nine warnings can be summed up by the biggest lie pain tells us:

This pain will last forever.

This is simply not true. As a child of God, the best is ALWAYS yet to come. Even if your life here on earth is marred by pain now, you have all of eternity—with Jesus and and your loved ones—waiting for you. There will be no more pain and anguish. God will wipe all tears from your eyes. Every moment you will be surrounded by the perfect love of Jesus. There will be a million joys we can’t even begin to imagine.

My friend, if you are in pain today, please don’t give up hope. Please know that Jesus holds you close and counts every one of your tears. He will carry you safely through this dark valley and into the light of heaven.

One day you will have no more pain.

“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21: 3-4)

To view Pastor Jim’s entire sermon, click HERE.

For ordering information for Tales from Toddlers, click HERE.

Last week my older brother and his beautiful wife celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. For the first time in a very long time (can I get an “amen” from the ministry wives?) they were able to take a few days off for a romantic getaway. While they explored Texas and rode horses on the beach (yes, I’m a tiny bit jealous) I watched their son Jordan and toddler Lila.

It was the first time two-year-old Lila had been away from mommy overnight, and I was interested to see how the four days and three nights would progress. Thankfully, she was just fine. (To mommy’s relief!) 🙂

There were a lot of things Lila didn’t understand. She didn’t know why or where her parents had gone, but she knew I would take care of her until they came back.

Lila doesn’t know I’ve changed thousands of diapers raising my own boys and then in my career as a daycare mama, but she came to me every time she needed a change, knowing I would take care of the problem.

Lila doesn’t understand the fact that I’ve prepared thousands of meals in my lifetime or how food came to be in my pantry and fridge, but she toddled up to me every time she was hungry, knowing that I could make the empty feeling in her little tummy go away.

Lila didn’t understand where mommy was the night she woke up crying, but she knew I would keep her safe. She climbed into my bed, wrapped her chubby arm around me, and fell back to sleep.

No, Lila didn’t understand much of what was happening those four days and three nights. But she trusted me regardless, because she knows I love her and will keep her safe.

My friend, we too can trust God without understanding all that’s happening.

Oh, I know it’s not easy to trust God when the days are veiled in mist and we can’t see through the darkness. I realize it’s hard to take your hand off the wheel and let God steer when you don’t know where He’s taking you.

There are so many things we don’t understand. We don’t understand why God has taken a loved one away from us, but we can trust that His grace will carry us through.

We certainly don’t understand how God can take our messy, sinful souls and make us clean and pure before Him, but we trust in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us. We believe in His atoning work and know we have an eternal home in Heaven.

We may not know how the bills or the mortgage are going to be paid. We may not understand how groceries are going to get on the table. But we can trust the God Who has faithfully supplied our needs to come through for us once again.

And when we’re crying alone in the dark, we may not understand why God hasn’t given us the human comfort we so desperately long for. But we can find true comfort just like little Lila did—by climbing up to One who is there.

My friend, if you’re facing a situation you don’t understand today, you can still trust. As the familiar saying goes, “When you can’t trace God’s hand, trust His heart.”

We can rest in peace, not because we understand, but because He is with us.

“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:2)

If you found encouragement from the above devotional, you may also enjoy my devotional book, Tales from Toddlers. Each day includes a true story like Lila’s, accompanied by Scriptural applications and Bible study. For ordering information, click HERE.

Most years, I arrive home from our family Thanksgiving dinner with a full stomach, containers of leftovers, and the desire to take a nice, long nap. But this year, I carried something else:

The lingering stench of smoke.

It clung to my clothes, hair, and jacket. I even had to throw away the plastic shopping bag I’d used to transport table games to the gathering.

My cousin Teddy offered to host the Thanksgiving Day meal this year. We squeezed into his apartment, set up chairs, and pulled two tables together.

(I’m going to take a moment to brag on Teddy’s turkey-cooking skills. I’ve never, and I mean never, tasted such amazing turkey! It was the juiciest, tastiest turkey I’ve ever eaten. If there was a turkey-cooking-award, I would have given it to him!) 🙂

After the meal, we ladies of the family made short work of cleaning the kitchen. When the last dish was dried and put away, we turned our attention to the oven.

Should we use the self-cleaning function and save ourselves a little work?

Why not?

So we wiped the stove top and set the dial to self-clean.

And thus began the “Thanksgiving Day Smoke-Out.”

At first, just a little wisp of smoke came from the vent on top of the stove. Then the wisp grew thicker. Thinking it was just burning off the spilled food, we opened the windows to air the smokey kitchen.

Then the smoke began to billow from the top of the stove. The entire apartment filled with smoke. The guys pulled the oven out from the wall and unplugged it. Still smoke surged from the stove.

We opened every door and window and retreated to the deck. (Thankfully, none of the neighbors called the fire department!) Eventually the oven stopped smoking, and we used fans to air the apartment. All ended well, and we enjoyed a competitive (mostly-friendly) game of Catch Phrase after the smoke cleared.

But every single one of us went home smelling of smoke.

That evening, as I loaded the washing machine with smokey clothing, I pondered this thought:

Just as the smoke from our Thanksgiving celebration clung to us as we left our family gathering, so should the attitude of gratitude linger in our spirits.

Now, I know lingering smoke isn’t pleasant. 🙂 However, just as the smell of smoke is apparent to anyone close by, so is a spirit of thankfulness.

It’s wonderful that we dedicate the month of November to being thankful, but shouldn’t we nurture that attitude all year long?

How would you feel if your children, spouse, or friends thanked you only for one month a year? I wonder if God feels the same way when we quickly turn from the thanksgiving of November to the excitement of December?

So how can we foster a thankful attitude all year long? How can we “wear” a spirit of gratitude?

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but here are three simple ways to remember to thank God every day:

1. Pray through a Psalm or a portion of a Psalm every day. Psalm 103:1-6 is a wonderful place to start. As you pray, make the words of the psalmist the prayer of your heart.
2. Keep a thankful list. Each day, write three things for which you are thankful, and praise God for them in prayer. If you do this for an entire year, you will have a list of over 1,000 things. This is also a great way to look back and reflect on the blessings of God.
3. Pray through each room of your house, thanking God for the necessities and luxuries He’s provided. I never thought to pray through my laundry room and thank God for my washing machine until it broke down one day. After that, I was very thankful for the luxury of washing our family’s clothing! 🙂

I’ll never forget this Thanksgiving and the smoking, self-cleaning oven. I hope our spirit of gratitude will linger much longer than the smoke did.

And perhaps the next time we see smoke rising, we’ll be reminded to be thankful always.

“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High:

To show forth thy lovingkindess in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night.” {Psalm 92:1-2}

For ordering information for my devotional book, Tales from Toddlers, click HERE.

Many of us remember the Christmases of our childhood as being picture-perfect. I certainly do.

I grew up in rural Wisconsin, and both my parents came from large farming families. Christmas Eve was spent with my dad’s side on the Brooks farm, and Christmas Day with my mom’s side, on the Allbaugh farm. To this day, the most “Christmasy” scene I can imagine is a farm dusted in powdery snow.

At both places, the farmhouses overflowed with aunts, uncles and cousins. I remember mountains of food, piles of presents, and love and laughter in abundance. The only time the noise abated was right before opening the gifts, when we would have a time of Bible reading and singing around the tree. After these quiet moments of reflection, chaos erupted once again.

Just the thought of Christmas brings a flood of precious memories to my mind. I’m thankful for each one of these special times in my past, and I’m sure you feel the same way.

But as I grow older, I’ve come to realize that Christmas can also be the hardest, most painful time of the year for many people.

Why is this? Why does Christmas bring pain, along with the joy?

Because Christmas points out what is missing.

We might be able to push down the pain and pretend the missing things really aren’t missing the rest of the year, but at Christmas, it’s not so easy.

You might be missing a loved one. Their chair sits empty at the table while your heart stirs empty in your chest. And you nod and smile at the folks in the church when they ask you how you’re doing, but really—really, your heart is breaking. What you wouldn’t give for just one more Christmas with your cherished one by your side.

A son or daughter might be missing, and the circle around your tree is broken. You have spent hours on your knees begging God to bring them home, but so far, their place is still empty. No matter how hard you’ve tried, you haven’t been able to love them back home.

A gold band might be missing from your left hand. You hide the tears and smile bravely as the kids open their presents, but you wonder if you will ever feel whole again? And HOW does one keep smiling all through the long Christmas day when your heart keeps breaking with every breath?

If this is you—if the Christmas you are facing this year is more broken than perfect, God has some words for you.

He tells you to come to Him, to pour out the grief and sadness in your heart.

“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” (Psalm 62:8)

You don’t have to hide your grief with God, or nod and smile and pretend everything is okay. You can be real with Him. He invites you to kneel before the manger this season, seeking Jesus not only as the Savior of your soul, but also the Healer of your heart.

God tells you that He will be close to you when you are broken-hearted.

“The LORD is near unto them that are of a broken heart.” Psalm 34:18

Look through the pages of Scripture, and see if you can find one person—one broken-hearted soul seeking God—that was turned away. Not once did Jesus turn away the weak, the broken, the hurting.

In Luke 4:18, we find the words of Jesus, telling us why He came to earth. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”

The whole reason Jesus came into this broken world was to heal our broken hearts. He invites you today to come to Him and receive His comfort, strength, and healing. And one day—in the not too distant future—we will be with Him in Heaven.

Where the only broken things will be the scars in His hands and feet, reminding us that He was broken so we could be healed.

“A Broken Christmas”

Jesus, it’s Christmastime—the time of joy and cheer.

But, Jesus, my heart is breaking.

Breaking all to pieces this year.

I know I should be happy, as we sit around the tree.

But, Jesus, my heart is hurting.

Please come and sit with me.

There’s an empty place at the table, and an empty place in my heart.

Tears fall down unbidden,

As the Christmas carols start.

Jesus, I bow at the manger, and ask You to hold me near.

I ask for Your strength and comfort,

These are the gifts I need this year.

I know one day in Heaven, all sorrow will be gone. 

You’ll take this broken heart of mine,

And fill it with a song.

But right now it’s still breaking, and what I ask this year,

Is to hold me close, Lord Jesus.

Please come and hold me near.

—Kimberly Joy

For ordering information on Gems of Joy, Volume 1, click HERE.

For ordering information on Gems of Joy, Volume 2, click HERE.

For ordering on information on Tales From Toddlers, click HERE.