WHERE TO HANG YOUR HOPE

The home I grew up in had no fireplace. So, Mom convinced Dad to construct one out of red cardboard sold as a dime store kit. On Christmas Eve, I hung my empty stocking on its flimsy mantle.

When I became a mother, we were blessed with a real fireplace and my children hung their stockings on a sturdy barn beam mantle set in stone.

There are all kinds of mantles in life that we hang our hopes on. Makeshift or built to last, they're prone to shift and crumble with the years, but the unseen hand that fills the empty stockings never changes.

Jesus still appears in the cold and darkest night to fill us. A kind word here, a warm embrace there. Little by little, He tucks tiny treasures into all the empty places until our heart overflows.

But there's no mantle in this world that can hold all Jesus has to give to those who love Him.

God knows your heavy stocking is sure to burst if suspended in hope much longer.

So before the dawn breaks, before all that holds your dreams tears away, Jesus gently takes your stocking down from the mantle and rests it on Heaven’s firm hearth where it waits to be found.

One glorious day, all the promises, the dreams, the laughter will be unwrapped and laid before you.

One glorious forever Christmas morning, all will be well at last.

But for now, on this Eve of glory, we hang our stockings on the mantles before us and “wait in hope for the Lord.” , Psalm 34:20