The chill in the air calls for bundles of quilts and woolen blankets. Coats hang in my closet ready to be used at any point. Brew the coffee and open the marshmallows. Christmas time is such a wonderful part of the year.

I often wish I could share it with someone else.

Unfortunately, when I get home after a long day of gift shopping and baking gingerbread men at a friend’s house, there is no one to greet except for my dog and the angelfish in my fish tank. It can be lonely around December when my refrigerator is covered with wedding invitations and family photos of couples with their newborns.

I want that too.

It’s difficult not to imagine the holidays with a partner. I want to stuff my feet into shoes that are bigger than mine when I have to run outside and get lost keys out of the car. The pile of blankets on my couch are for two, not just one. Firelight seems to be much better when it illuminates the face of someone you love. I want to warm my fingers in his coat pocket and to laugh when he wears a sweater with llamas on it.

The mistletoe hanging above my parents’ doorway and the holiday love songs on the radio constantly remind me that I am alone.

But that’s just it, I’m not actually by myself.

I forget that my heart is paired with another. The One who made me is here. He calls me every day to be with Him and He extinguishes the loneliness that pecks at my emotions. At any time, I can feel the presence of the Creator encircling me. He quenches the soul and provides for whoever abides in Him.

In the end, Christmas is the season to fall in love.

It’s the time to fall in love with the God who loves us all.

He invented the most powerful love, when His son died on the cross and the veil of the temple was torn. He yearns for us and we are free to choose Him. Love that “casts out all fear” is the gift that beats each of the gently wrapped goodies underneath the tree. It is water for the spirit and food for passion. Patient, kind, humble. It surpasses the taste of any pudding or roast beef on the dinner table and it is more intoxicating than alcohol.

It checks off every want and need on your Christmas list.

When I start to feel hopeless, I remember His sweet company, and my heart is encouraged. He is with us always.