Three Wounded Wives

My heart is burning with ache for three friends this Christmas. A, who separated from her husband this year; J, whose husband is facing danger daily in Iraq for the next year; and K, whose husband was killed this past summer in the war. These are my friends; these are wives with hearts for their husbands; these are mothers with fatherless children. Will this Christmas be full of joy for them?

They are wounded... heartbroken, raw, tender, exposed. I hurt for them. If you are reading this please join with me in fervent prayer for Peace, Comfort and Joy.

Yet, as always in this world of opposites, the broken hearted are the blessed. He draws near to them. I have seen it in each of these lives, as well as my own. Never can you know what Comfort means until you receive it from Him. You've never had a real friend until He is your only one left whom you can lean on. And peace is not True Peace unless the world around you has crumbled yet you still have Peace. You're never more strong until you've got no strength of your own left and get it all from Him. Peace, Comfort, Friendship, Strength- these are a Person. That Person will never ever leave you, never turn his back on you. This is the true gift this Christmas; that Christ has come, come to our hearts, and opened our eyes to see the flip side of the coin.

your pain= His Comfort
your loneliness=His Friendship
your turmoil=His Peace
your weakness= His Strength

And a word of hope for my three friends:
Isaiah 54:5
For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.