Jeff Manion’s mother died in a car accident when he was just twelve years-old. It happened in the season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. While they were very sad about the death of their mom, God provided for Jeff and his siblings in surprising ways during that time. People from church started sending them Christmas presents–lots of Christmas presents. 

Manion writes, “While the gifts did not take away our grief, the arrival of each box and the mercy that motivated the people who sent it, were like whispers from God that said to us, ‘I’m here. I see what you are going through. I know and I care. I have not forgotten you.’ Things were still a mess, but God reminded our family that we were not alone” p.94.

God wants to remind each of us that we are not alone. Those reminders may come in the form of presents in the mail, but they also come in cards or conversations or meals or prayers from other people. Pray that God would help you to both remember that you are not alone, and help remind other people that they are not alone.

Question to Ponder: What are some ways that we can remind people who we know that they are not alone? Who are some people we could do that for this week?
​

This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions by Jeff Manion. Zondervan, Grand Rapids. 2010.