The Gift Of Encouragement

I'm Elon, in case we haven't met, and um this morning I was looking for Justin, who is like super impossible to find if you're ever trying to find him.

I think he needs like a GPS or something.

But um, I just wanted to say that as I was looking for him, I ran into many of you.

And you just seeing you makes me happy, and I'm just really thankful to be here.

I really mean that sincerely.

Um, so thank you, and I love you.

Thanks.

Thanks, guys.

Um, you know what else makes me happy?

Christmas.

Christmas, Christmas makes me happy every year.

Um, one of my children, Lila, um, she's uh my middle child.

She was born on Christmas, so that makes it super special.

Um, and and every year it's great, but this year I am more excited than I've been in a few years because we have a new addition to our family, um, and that is Emmy.

She was born in February, and this is this is our first Christmas with her, and it's her first Christmas.

And if you ever watched a baby enjoy Christmas for the first time, it's like you yourself are seeing it through fresh eyes, and it's it's just it's awesome.

It's awesome, and um, there's just really one thing because of that that I want this Christmas or that I've wanted.

Um, and actually, as I say that, there's actually that's that's not the only thing.

Moms, I'm talking to you for just a second.

I would really love to be able to eat a meal from start to finish sitting down.

You know, just I don't want to inhale it, I don't want to have indigestion, I just want to eat a meal.

Okay, so that's one thing, and then another thing, I'd like to go to the bathroom by myself, and I know that that's a little risky to say, but I you're clapping moms, right?

It is a thing.

But and moms, you're gonna appreciate this too.

But the other thing that I really want, and this is like what I want more than anything, I just want a picture with all of my people, my family, looking at the camera and smiling.

And we, I know, right?

Good luck, because it's so impossible, it is so hard.

And this year, more than ever, or not more than ever, but more than you know, the last couple of years, I really want that picture because I have family scattered throughout the country, and I want to send them a photo Christmas card of my family.

And I don't think that that's asking much.

I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to things like that.

Um, but that's all I want, and so um, it's never really worked out.

We have this baby who never looks at the camera and and she doesn't cooperate, she's adorable and everything, but it's like I can't get that picture.

And so last week I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea.

Thank you very much.

I told Teb, I'm like, listen, I'm gonna come home from church and let's just take a family selfie in front of the Christmas tree.

Like low maintenance, we don't have to worry about being matchy matchy.

We we can just stand there, take a selfie, it's gonna be candid, playful.

We have our Christmas tree.

Our Christmas tree wasn't even finished, we just had lights on it.

I was like, it doesn't even matter, just some lights in the background, that is fine.

Let's just snap a picture.

Well, I brought some pictures with you just to kind of show you some of the experience that we that we had.

And and just let you know, there's like 30 more pictures that I could share with you, but I'm not gonna do that to you.

But I just want you to kind of be in the moment with me for a second.

Okay, so we're in front of our Christmas tree.

So the first picture, um, so so look at them, let's just take a moment.

Isn't that sweet?

Look at that little family.

Okay, well, first of all, you can see in the background that we only have a couple of lights up, but that was fine.

But I thought it'd be a great idea, you know, have all the girls in these Santa hats and la uh Emmy, the baby, was like, I don't know what this thing is on my head.

So Tab snaps the picture and then off it goes.

And then the next picture, um, Emmy had a surprise in her diaper.

And Rachel, Rachel, right at the moment, Tab snapped the picture, she's plugging her nose, like you.

And then in the next picture, she's like, Oh, lights.

Let me turn around and look at those lights.

Okay, all right.

The next picture, I don't really know if it's gonna come.

Oh, oh yeah, there we go.

Now she's like, Oh, you've got a picture, you've got a hat on your head.

Let me take that off.

Let me have that.

Um, you can go to the next picture.

Oh, okay.

Now I don't know, I can't really remember this picture.

Was I crying or laughing?

Because at this point, you know, you're just so frustrated.

And actually, um that the very next snap, we were like, you know, in a selfie, you can see your picture, you can see yourself.

You can see that you're smiling, everybody's all together.

The baby was smiling, the girls were smiling, I was smiling, and we're like, yes, this is the one.

And Tab clicks the button and he hit the wrong button and shut the whole thing off.

So, so he is like grabbing the phone and he's trying to figure out what went wrong, and as he's doing that, then he clicks another picture that's not even what he meant to click.

And at that point, he looks up at me and he says, This is the worst idea you've ever had in your life.

And then we finally get one, and you know, this is the one that's just gonna have to do.

There we go.

I mean, I don't know, that's just real, that's real Griffin life right there.

Oh my goodness, with our couple of lights.

You know, it's funny because we're sitting here laughing, and and I was honestly, Tab and I were, we had a sense of humor during the whole thing, but I have to be honest with you, about halfway through this, I kind of felt discouraged.

And I know that this doesn't seem like something big to be discouraged about, but I think I really wanted to share this story with you because the truth is every single day we face discouragement, some way or another.

And it might be, you know, like really big stuff that would discourage anyone.

Or it could just be trying to get a picture with your family.

I mean, I'm sure if I passed a microphone around and we just all kind of shared, most of us today, just even today, have been discouraged in some way or another.

And and it doesn't take much, it seems like, for that to happen.

The truth is that we all need encouragement.

We need it every single day.

I looked up the word encouragement in the dictionary, and it says it's the act of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.

Yes.

Does anybody need support, confidence, or hope?

Right?

Yeah, me too.

Support, confidence, or hope.

That's what that's what I need.

That's actually what we all need.

And even if you are someone who has a has a sunny disposition and you're you're really positive all the time, you would still benefit from encouragement.

I don't think that there's anybody that would actually be offended by being encouraged.

Although as soon as I say that, I do feel like I have to say, when we are trying to encourage someone, we should still think about the way that we're saying what we're saying.

Um, for example, one day um I had given the message and um I kind of struggle being a little bit critical of myself, but this day I felt good.

I was like, oh yeah, I felt like I said what I wanted to say, and God was moving, and I felt him, and it was awesome.

And I walked out into the hallway, and this person walks up to me and says, Um, don't take this the wrong way.

By the way, there's a few phrases we should never start encouragement with.

Don't take this the wrong way, and no offense, but.

And so this person says, Don't take this the wrong way.

You know, I never really connect with you or anything that you say, but you did a great job today.

Thank you.

Uh I really can laugh about it.

It's okay.

It is okay.

Because that day I do remember that there were a bunch of people who were super encouraging.

But you know what's really interesting to me is I think back on that day, I can't remember the message that I gave.

And honestly, I cannot remember the encouraging words that I heard or who said them.

But I will never forget those discouraging words, even if they weren't meant to be discouraging.

And I will never forget, you know, who shared that with me.

And I'm not angry or anything.

I'm only saying that to point out, it's almost like it takes like 10 positive, encouraging things to kind of outweigh one negative, discouraging word or thought or experience that we have.

You know, like your day could be going totally great, and then all of a sudden just this one thing sets you off.

Does that ever happen to anybody?

Yeah, it happens to me too.

And and and the truth is that we have got, we deserve, we need, and we benefit from daily encouragement.

We need it every single day.

In Hebrews 3.13, it says, But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

See, to me, it's almost like God saying, Listen, this world is broken and it's hard.

I mean, Jesus Himself says, You're gonna face difficulties, you're gonna have trials, like this world is difficult, and because of that, you gotta really encourage each other every day.

Every day you need encouragement.

But you know, sometimes I ask myself, well, okay, that's that's great.

I do need encouragement.

That's kind of established.

I need it every single day, but how?

Because I want something tangible.

How?

How can I get encouraged every day?

And and I just wanted to share three ways that God is kind of continually showing me that He wants to encourage me and how He wants to encourage me and you and us every single day.

Because I believe that God, as much discouragement as we face, He has all the more encouragement available for us that He wants to give us every single day.

And so I just want to share three ways.

They're super practical, and they are ways that we can experience it today, all day, anytime, no matter what we're facing.

And the first way that we can experience encouragement is to spend time in God's Word daily.

Every single day.

Every day.

See, Scripture, the Bible, is our encouragement.

It is, it actually even says it in Romans 15, verse 4.

Romans 15:4

It says, Such things were written in the scriptures long ago to teach us, and the scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled.

This scripture, God's word, it is here for us to encourage us every single line of it.

And as much as we are able, it is in our best interest, for ourselves, not to check some box, not to be right or holy, although those are great benefits of it, but that's not why.

This is here for us to be encouraged.

It's God's word, and it does encourage us.

And here's the thing is if you're thinking, well, I don't have an hour every morning to sit down, you know, Elon, you just don't know.

Like, I can't, I don't, my life is not where I have all this time to have this deep Bible study.

Me neither.

Me neither.

I want that, but more days than not, you know, all I get is just like, okay, God, I'm just gonna open up my Bible and I'm just gonna be like, put my finger on something.

And I'll just say, listen, can you make this verse real to me today?

You know, just one word.

Give me an image, tell me something, make this real for me today.

And God is never disappointed.

He is never disappointed, but to not even attempt, it's like holding back blessings from ourselves.

Even if you have a devotional, have somebody else do the work for you.

Just open up a page of a devotional and read it.

It is there to encourage us.

And the cool thing is, is that this word, God's word is not just encouragement for us, but he is the author of it.

And God is, he is, he himself is the encourager.

In fact, in 2 Corinthians chapter uh 1, verses 3 and 4, it says, All praise, all praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

He comforts us in all of our troubles so that we can comfort others.

When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

And what's super cool about this is actually the word comfort in the Greek language is paraclesis.

I think I'm pronouncing that correctly.

And that word actually means encouragement.

So if we were to read this again, now with that translation, this is what it would sound like.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Or yeah, Jesus Christ.

God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.

Sorry, the source of all encouragement.

He encourages us in all of our troubles so that we can encourage others.

When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same encouragement that God has given us.

And I love that.

So not only is the word encouraging, but the author of the word, he is our encourager, and he is here ready all the time to pour that encouragement on us.

So the second way that we can experience encouragement today and every single day is to surround ourselves with people who will encourage us.

And you know what?

Sometimes we're around people who really we can't get away from for whatever reason, and they may not be, and I don't mean that ugly, but they may not be the most encouraging people, but as much as we are able, surrounding ourselves with people who will encourage us, who will spur us on.

In Hebrews 10, verse 24, it says, Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts acts of love and good works, and let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24

In some translations, it does say spur one another on.

It's almost to say, like, don't give up, you can do it.

Don't give up, you can do it.

I am so thankful for the many people in my life who encourage me.

I'm so thankful.

I was just looking at Sandra as I was coming up.

Where are you, Sandra?

Did she just get up?

There you are.

I'm sorry, I was looking at her as I was coming up because Sandra is such an encouragement to me.

She gave me this necklace one time that says, You got this.

You know, because she knows I need that encouragement.

And I'm so thankful.

I'm so thankful for her and so many people around me who encourage me.

Because it's easy to want to give up, even in just one day, even when it's just a normal day.

We're supposed to spur one another on.

There was this man in the New Testament, his name was Joseph.

And the apostles actually renamed him Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, because he was known as somebody who would walk into a room and be the encourager.

It'd be like us being like Mr.

Encouragement coming in the door or Miss Encouragement.

Wouldn't that be cool to be referred to by everyone as the encourager?

He was.

He was such an encouragement to new believers and to those leaders who started the early church.

He would encourage Paul and Mark.

I mean, much of the reason that we have so much of the New Testament is, you know, because of Paul.

And I think we can thank Barnabas too, because he was the one saying, Come on, you can do this.

Don't give up.

Don't give up.

Whenever I think about this, this don't give up spur one another on, I always think about my dad.

Um, when I was younger, I used to run cross country, and and the the um the the courses were like in the woods and and and really like over over hills and and they were difficult.

And it was so wild because every single race, just when I thought I couldn't go anymore, out of nowhere, my dad would come out from the woods, which that may sound a little creepy, but but but it wasn't.

He would come out of the woods and he would start running beside me.

And he would whisper, he would whisper, he'd say, Okay, Elon, you gotta break the ice, girl.

Break the ice.

I know it's hard right now, but just break right through it.

Now, you see, you see that light pole up ahead?

Let's just run right there.

Let's just run to that light pole.

We get to that light pole and he'd say, Okay, you see that that weird tree that has that branch that's hanging off?

Okay, let's just go there, let's just run there.

And he would kind of spur me on, kind of like a dad pushing his child off on their bike for the first time, and then letting them go.

But being there all the while, that that was my dad, and and and it's like just a little bit at a time.

It's so encouraging.

That's what spurring one another on means.

Just at Thanksgiving, um, I ran in a race, which wasn't a smart idea, but um I wanted to.

And so I ran in this race, and halfway through there was my family.

Tad brought the girls and they were waiting there and cheering me on with pom-poms, like, go, mighty mama, go, go.

Yeah, that's what they did.

And um I loved every minute.

And I knew they were gonna be there at the end.

And I'll tell you, besides Jesus, my family got me through to that finish line because I knew they were at the end, cheering me on.

There's so much power when when you surround yourself, when I surround myself, when we surround ourselves with people who are who are rooting for us, because it seems like more and more there's so much rooting against us.

We got to have each other.

We're not meant to do this alone.

We're all in our race, we're all in our own race, so to speak.

And perseverance, you know, is something, yes, that God gives us, but but each other.

We give it to each other.

And so that's one way we can experience that encouragement today.

And then the third way that we can experience encouragement today is to encourage others.

This is my favorite one, and this is actually kind of the the heart of this message today.

In Ephesians 5, the word says that we are to be imitators of God.

We're supposed to be imitators of God, and he created us in his image.

So that means he wants us, he created us to be like him, and he wants us to be encouragers just like he is.

If you look back at that verse in 2 Corinthians that we read earlier, I'm gonna read it with that translation again.

It says, All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is our merciful Father and the source of all encouragement.

He encourages us in our troubles so that we can encourage others.

When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same encouragement that God has given us.

We are to encourage one another.

That's what he wants.

That's one reason that it's so important that we come to church whenever we can.

Whenever we can to be here because this is an encouraging place.

I can't get over, I mean, how encouraged I am just even this morning by the people, by you.

We we are always, we can always count that here at this church that we will be encouraged.

It's so important.

But encouraging others, it actually brings encouragement to us.

It's like we're working hand in hand with God Himself.

And if you're here today and you're like, I'm not really so sure about this God guy, Jesus, I'm not really sure.

I just want you to know we're really glad you're here.

We're really glad you're here.

And I want to tell you that if if you aren't sure about God, and even if you are, one of the most powerful ways that we can experience the living God is to encourage other people.

If if you aren't sure, I I just would challenge you for the next 30 days, just intentionally look for ways to encourage random people or people in your life, and God is going to show you Himself.

He will.

He will.

It's it's just the way that He is.

He is our encourager.

And I read, um I want to read from Hebrews again, 3.13, it says, but encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

I would I read it again because do you hear the sense of urgency there?

Encourage one another daily, as long as it is today.

Like don't miss an opportunity to encourage someone because we need it every single day.

I have a really wonderful friend, and she's an encouragement for me, and we kind of we do, we encourage one another.

And a while back, she was she kind of came on my mind, and she was on my mind for about three or four days straight, like nonstop.

And I wanted to reach out to her and and tell her and you want to call her and just say, Hey, I'm thinking about you, how you doing?

But life got busy and I just I didn't.

But I was thinking about her.

Well, we ended up getting the opportunity to meet up for lunch a few weeks later, and and I said, Hey, I was thinking about you just a couple weeks ago.

And she said, Really?

Do you remember like what day it was?

Which was kind of a weird question, but I kind of thought about it and I was like, Well, yeah, and I told her, and she goes, Wow, that's really interesting.

And she went on to share with me she had gotten some really terrible news, and she was dealing with it in those three days.

And I just thought, oh, Elon, you missed an opportunity to encourage someone that you love.

You know, it's like having a gift for someone that you want to give to them, but you just don't give to them.

And it's not like I beat myself up on it, like, oh, I can't believe you, but but I missed an opportunity to encourage somebody.

Encouragement, it can be a game changer.

Listen, if your marriage needs a change, encourage your spouse.

Be the person whose voice is the loudest with encouragement.

Let us not, if we're married or in any relationship, let us not be the loudest of discouragement.

And I understand that there may be a season that you're in that it's really hard to encourage that person.

Maybe they're being really difficult.

Find something.

Find something to encourage that person.

Hey, you know what?

You work really hard for our family.

Thank you.

Hey, you have a meeting today.

I just want you to know I'm praying for you.

You're gonna knock them dead.

Hey, thanks for your help, you know, with the kids.

Thanks for starting my car.

You're so thoughtful.

Find something.

I'm telling you, you'll notice a difference.

And you yourself, I myself will be encouraged.

If you are needing to change with your children, if you're wanting to connect with them, if you feel like you're losing them, encourage them.

Y'all listen, our children need encouragement every single day.

Every single day, the last words out of our mouth when they leave to go catch that bus or when they leave to go into school to be a word of encouragement.

The last word, hey, good luck on that test.

Hey, thanks for unloading the dishwasher.

Hey, you know what?

I'm so proud of you.

Encouragement is so important and it and it changes situations.

If work is miserable, be Mr.

Encouragement.

Be Miss Encouragement.

Go to the person who's the most difficult and sincerely, in a sincere way, look for a way to encourage that person.

I'm telling you, you are going to notice a difference because encouragement is a game changer.

I went to go have lunch with one of my daughters and um and in the lunchroom, the one of the ladies who was working in there, honestly, she was miserable.

She was miserable and angry and honestly, just really mean to the kids.

And she was mean to me.

And halfway through lunch, I was kind of getting irritated.

I'm just being honest, my feathers were you know getting ruffled back here.

Really have feathers.

Um, and uh tough crowd.

I know I'm not very funny.

I'm not very I'm not like Justin.

See, if I were like Justin, you guys have been laughing like the whole time, but that's okay.

I'll laugh at myself.

So anyway, my feathers, my feathers were getting ruffled, and um and I I literally was like, gosh, you know, why is she even work here if she's not gonna be happy around kids?

And so I kind of like stomped out, and and my daughter had an activity in her class that day that I was participating in.

So I went with her, and as I was leaving, the cafeteria was shut down and and the the people were in there working and cleaning up, and I walked right by, kind of stomping, and it's like God was like, You will not go any further.

Turn your little prissy pants right back around and walk yourself back into that into that cafeteria.

And so I did, and I was I was a little intimidated because she was intimidating.

I mean, she was shorter than me, but I did not want to get no, she was like, she was intimidating.

And I walked in and and she had her earbuds in and her back was to me, and I tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around like you better have a good reason why you're interrupting me.

And I just looked at her and God just softened my heart, and I just said, Hey, listen, I know that you probably don't hear thank you very much, and I know you're cleaning up kids' mess, you know, all day long.

And I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you so much.

And she looked at me like shocked, like, and I she smiled.

And I honestly, the the she was so unhappy.

I that may have been the first time she smiled in over a week.

I I really mean it.

And I walked away down that hallway and I prayed, I prayed that she would not forget that, that that encouragement would carry her.

And it blessed me.

That's the cool thing about encouragement, is that it not only is a gift to other people, but it is a gift to us as well.

If you don't know what to say, that's okay.

Because the gift of encouragement can be silent.

You can sit beside someone and be an incredible encouragement to them.

If somebody is suffering or going through a difficult time, you don't need to say a word.

I need to hear that because sometimes I want to solve it with my words, and that makes a problem.

Just sitting with someone is an encouragement.

Or smiling.

When was the last time that you smiled, that I smiled at the teller at the at the grocery store, or the person giving us the coffee, or the person who needed to get in in the lane on the road.

Just smiling at someone is encouraging, or looking them in the face.

Looking someone in the eye is a huge encouragement.

There's a lot of people walking around right now, even in here, who feel alone and feel like nobody notices them.

And just to be looked at in the face is encouraging.

So whether it's somebody who's really simple, you know, easy to be encouraged or not, I just I just want you to know that sometimes the angriest people, they're really just the most discouraged.

And they just need encouragement.

And I I I kind of feel I felt a little, I'm just gonna, I felt a little self-conscious this morning about this message.

Because you know, I just want to come in and be like, I just I want something profound.

Because that's that's Elon.

You know, I just I want it to be something that is meaningful for you.

And even as I'm up here sharing, it's like the enemy's like, you know, that's everybody knows all this already.

But you know what?

I'm just gonna call that a lie because here's the truth.

This all comes from the word of God, and his word is practical, and it is it is alive and active, and it doesn't need to be complicated.

And he wants us to be encouraged, and I need encouragement, and you need encouragement, and we all benefit from that.

If you're looking for a gift to give someone for Christmas, the very best gift, the gift that that costs nothing but means everything, is that gift of encouragement, and it encourages us as well.

And so as I was praying about this, because you know I'm like, okay, I gotta give something something to take with us.

What do we do now?

So we have these really great cards, these postcards that we printed out.

Actually, Matt is awesome, and he made these postcards, and and and I just thought it would be really cool as a church if we were like the encouragers this Christmas season.

And on your way out, if you grab a few, take you know, take three or four if you want, if you want.

This is no pressure.

And and it says on one side, be encouraged.

And on the other side, there's a place if you want to write an address and put a post, I mean, uh a postage stamp and mail it.

That's awesome.

If you don't, you can hand deliver it to somebody.

But how cool would it be to just think of someone who might need a word of encouragement or even a prayer that you would write out for them?

And to write it on this postcard and either to mail it or deliver it to them, or maybe carry it in your car and just wait for God to tell you when someone needs it.

You know, maybe it's that person at the gas station who you can hear arguing, you know, inside the car and coming out and they just look frustrated, and you're like, I'm just gonna write this down real quickly.

I'm just gonna hand it to them, or not even let them know.

I'm gonna put it on their windshield and walk away.

Or maybe it's somebody in your house.

Maybe your husband needs your encouragement, or your wife just needs to hear that you think she's beautiful.

Or maybe your kids just need to hear, you know what?

Your grades do not indicate how much I love you.

The decisions and the mistakes you've made have no impact on how much I love you and I am fighting for you and rooting for you.

And I love you no matter what.

Or maybe, maybe your boss is one of those honri people.

Remember, the ones who are the most honri are the ones who need the encouragement more than anyone because they are feeling discouraged.

It's the truth.

So write something on there.

Thank you for all you do for our company.

Thanks for getting here so early.

You know, thanks for your support.

Thanks for the bonus at Christmas, man, that is so awesome.

Or your neighbor, or some somebody who works in a cafeteria.

But as I said earlier, a lot of times it takes those ten positive encouragements to outweigh the negative, that one negative thing.

Let's be the ten.

Let's be the ten this Christmas.

And I'm telling you that we ourselves will be encouraged because the gift of encouragement is something that gives back tenfold.

Because that's how God is.

All right, let's pray.

God, I love you.

I'm thankful for you, and I'm thankful for all of these people here.

I'm thankful for my church.

It's your church, but it's my church too, and I'm so thankful.

I'm thankful that we all get to be together, that we're all here safe, and I do pray for everybody's safety going home.

I thank you, God, for the fact that you are a God of encouragement.

And even when you have something to tell us that's redirecting us, you know, bringing us back on the path if we've made the wrong decisions, I'm just so thankful that even then you're an encourager.

That you have our best interest at heart.

And I just I just pray, God, that you would just move in our hearts today.

Um, not just here in this place, but as we leave, as we go about our week and as we move closer to this Christmas day and you know, enjoy this Christmas season.

Lord, I just pray you would move in our hearts and you would show us the people who need encouragement the most.

God, and that you would encourage us, that you would encourage us to just spend time in your word every day, even if it's just one verse, God, that we would not be hard on ourselves if we can't get more, you know, if we don't have more time, that we would just take a verse and ask you to make it real for us and trust that you will.

Lord, I pray that you would show us the people in our life that we need to be hanging around more.

The people who are the real encouragers.

Help us.

Help us to identify those people and to be with them as often as we can.

And to not only get encouragement from them, but also be the ones who are spurring them on.

Don't give up.

Thank you, God, that you are our encourager.

Lord, thank you for this Christmas season.

Thank you for your love.

We love you so much, and we just we're just very thankful.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.