Pray against holiday strife ...

Colder weather serves as a harbinger of holiday family interactions.

Well, we are less than a week away from the great celebration of giving thanks and, before you know it, Christmas will be upon us. If you're anything like me, you can almost smell those pleasant & familiar smells (I don't know about you but I'm already feeling stuffed!). Food isn't the only thing that the upcoming holiday season will bring. For many of us these intimate seasons of celebration bring much needed time re-connecting with family members, co-workers & neighbors. Yet, in spite of all the joy that this season brings, holidays can bring painful reminders of the brokenness within Altoona's families. Let me paint a picture ...

Stew is the typical middle-aged man from Altoona that you might bump into on the street. The holidays are approaching and out of joy for the season you ask Stew if he's planning on spending time with his family. "Naa, probably not," he replies, "my family's too screwed up. I can't handle all the drama." Because you're a caring person (and somewhat curious) you inquire about what he means by "drama". What you find out is troubling ... Stew is divorced, Stew's parents are divorced and most of Stew's siblings are either divorced or have serious marital problems. The instability in these marriage relationships causes huge tensions in the family creating family crises on a monthly if not weekly basis. Whenever a portion of Stew's family does find it within their power to coordinate a family "get together" there is always fighting. Fighting about football, fighting about politics, fighting about religion, fighting about the spread for Christmas dinner. Then add alcohol into the mix ... watch out!

Here's my point: holidays are traditionally times when we can come together and celebrate but for many of the families in Altoona, holidays are a source of pain. Reminders of the brokenness of their lives are all around them. But we must remember that all of this brokenness comes from the sinful condition of our hearts. Consider the following passages:

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these." Galatians 5:19-21b

"For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor." Zechariah 8:10

Let's believe that the Lord can use this upcoming season of celebration to mend broken families.

Today:

• Pray that the Lord would remove "enmity" between family members.
• Pray that the Lord would restore marriages to health.
• Pray that the Lord would curb the desire for drunkenness.
• Pray and thank the Lord for the family and friends he has given you.