I work at a church, so Christmas is the busiest, craziest, and best season of the year. We are hosting a total of 31 Christmas services between all of our campuses and 16 at the campus that I work at. As I’ve been praying over these services this week, the word that keeps coming to mind is “haven.” Because the holidays are really hard for a lot of people. For a lot of people, the holidays are a just a painful reminder of loss, heartache, disappointment, and discontent. For a lot of people, the holidays are reminder of just how alone they feel.

For this next week I want our church to be a haven for those people. I want them to step on campus and feel like they are home. To feel that they are accepted. To feel safe. To feel seen.

I want them to experience comfort. I want them to experience joy.

I want every interaction I have with every single person to be a haven. I want every person I have a conversation with to feel seen, valued, loved. I don’t want to get caught up in the craziness and miss the very reason we are inviting thousands of people to our church.

My prayer is that people will leave our services feeling hopeful. Feeling encouraged. I hope that they will understand what it really means to be loved, and that they will walk in the confidence this week that they are loved, despite their circumstances.

I hope that those who enter will feel as though they have entered a haven. I hope they feel as if they have come home and as though they can rest for a moment. I hope that our church is a place of comfort and joy. After all, that is what this season is all about.