Christmas is a full—and often hectic—time of year. There are parties and programs to attend, lights to hang, and cookies to bake. Are you pausing to take it all in, or is everything a blur?
“I don’t want to rush by the Christmas season,” said Cissie Graham Lynch. “I love the traditions. I love the excitement.
“I don’t want that sense of panic that we’ve got to get it all done. I don’t want to rush by the nativity. I don’t want to rush by Mary. I don’t want to rush by Jesus.”
In the busyness of the season, Lynch encouraged more than 400 women at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove to pause, slow down, and learn from one of the central characters of the Christmas story: the mother of Jesus.
Listen to Cissie Graham Lynch’s full message on this special Fearless podcast episode.
Everyone faces challenges—not just at Christmas, but all year long—Lynch said, and it was the same with Mary. Opening her Bible, Lynch looked at the ways the mother of the Messiah could have crumbled under the pressures of her own life.
“[Mary] had a generational understanding of the faithfulness of God; she had an eternal mindset.” Lynch explained how Mary modeled four disciplines in her response that we can follow today. “She submitted, she served, she suffered, and she sang.”
Lynch shared her own personal stories dealing with depression and anxiety while balancing work, family, and children.
Addressing the full crowd, she offered a message of hope to anyone else facing a hard Christmas.
“We don’t have to sing a song of fear and discontentment. That doesn’t have to be our soundtrack this Christmas season. We can sing a Christmas song all year long. It doesn’t have to start on November 1 or December 1. Whatever you and I are going through, whatever the season we are in, we can always magnify the Lord.”
Browse upcoming women’s events at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina.
