Dear Single Momma,

In the busyness of the holiday season, during the hecticness of jingle bell shopping and reindeers dancing in the night sky, I have to stop and share my heart with yours.

From one momma who has fought really hard to climb out of some really messy places, I can’t help but think you might be struggling with feeling discouraged and losing hope this December.

And Christmas time is never a good time to be sad. All that hurt tends to settle in — a little bit deeper. 

Maybe you are barely hanging on by a thread. Maybe your thread broke off several months ago and you don’t even know how you’ve made it through each day. Maybe you can’t buy your kids Christmas gifts for a million and seven financial reasons. Maybe you are struggling with an illness with an uncertain outcome. Or the sad reality that the family you’ve worked so hard to save is falling through your fingertips and no matter how bad you want to make it work, it’s not.

For all these reasons and so many more, I’ve been carrying in my heart the heaviness of yours.

For just a few minutes can I speak into your hungry heart something that might be really hard to hear? Something you might even reject as soon as the words hit your sweet spirit?

You’re. Not. Alone.

Even when everything around you is screaming something totally different. So many single moms have paved the way for you. So many women have gone through all you are experiencing. So many women are experiencing this exact thing.

The loneliness. The struggle. The pain. The rejection. The hurt.

Your heart is heard.

And you know what momma? You are just as strong as they are. Your weaknesses they have experienced. You are just as worthy of hanging on to life as they are. You are so worth the investment of others love and time to help you get through another day. You are worth every bit of it.

The answers we’re looking for in these difficult places take time. The ability to discern when to rest your heart and when to relentlessly pursue higher ground is an art. Please know that it is in the depths of your sorrows that a craving for joy is birthed.

One more thing before I let you go, if you are worth the fight, if the breathe you have in you and the life you have is an invaluable treasure, will you seek to choose to live it as abundantly as possible? Will you choose to seek hope in something greater than what you can see? Will you allow joy to take its course?

Helen Keller once said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence”.

Although Helen’s words are totes awesome ;), I want to leave you with some of my favorite words from a friend who paid a heavy price to see that you celebrate life and life abundantly in all seasons…

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”. Jesus, speaking to his disciples. 

In all His riches and glory,

Cassie