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Saturday, December 23, 2006

Spending Christmas alone?

I found this wonderful piece (click above) written for people who might be spending the upcoming holiday alone. I know myself how difficult that can feel - whether it's due to circumstances in our lives, changing relationships or, as in my case, lack of access. This article talks about how we can choose to handle this spiritually and I thought perhaps some readers might benefit from it.

For those of us who have disabilities and cannot get into others' homes , it is important to remember that we can look at alternative ways to find companionship and fellowship on the holiday. Obviously, we can go to church. Or we can volunteer at a soup kitchen. For those of you like me who can't ladle food out physically (and if we do it might wind up in someone's lap), how about inviting friends out for either a meal or a cup of coffee as your finances permit?

You can also ask people to stop by for a short time if you can't get into their homes. At first I hesitated to do this since I felt I was inconveniencing them, but I was pleasantly surprised at the positive and enthusiastic response I received about how much fun it would be for people to drop in. (I do have an amazing snowman collection - I'm sure that's it!)

However, if you are housebound or these suggestions don't work for you, take a moment to read the above article from Online Ministries - and feel free to share here about your experiences.

One thing I do know for sure - we are never alone.

5 comments:

Rosemary said...

Thank you very much for this link, Ruth. This is the year that I needed to read that. As much help as you are to people year 'round, I certainly hope you're not going to have to spend Christmas alone, and it pains me to think you ever have had to for as pitiful a reason as access.

Penny L. Richards said...

Charles Dawson had a post this week about hospitals on Christmas, and one insight he shared is that some folks *like* to have a good reason to get out of the house on Christmas Day, whether to work or to visit. I can definitely see how the chaos and bustle and emotions at a traditional family celebration might do that! So, never think of your invitation to visit as an inconvenience -- the invitation might indeed be a blessing, and your home a refuge.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Ruth for your help this past year. Your emails and calls saved me big time from what I thought was a horrible fate and now I 'm working and feeling better about being in a wheelchair . Being scared was more of a disability than anything else. I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Diane

PV said...

dear Ruth, may you have a joyful Christmas. This post is very good and I will make a link on my site.
Peace

Anonymous said...

Ruth,
Hope you have a great Christmas. I am doing better now and out of the hospital. I took your suggestion about going to the support group for amputees and it's helping me. Maybe I'll see you playing tennis some day.

Chuck