Where Rose Writes Very True Stories

When something means everything to me, I really struggle to put it into words. It takes me forever to figure it out. I’ve been thinking about this for days, and I still don’t know how. I’ve had a lot of wonderful things going on, but man, there’s this weird conflict in my head that would probably shock everyone if they knew just how bad it was, and the exhaustion I feel is soul-deep. And I’ve had dreams stolen before, and so there’s this overwhelming fear… I don’t know if that makes any sense at all. But anyway, I’m really tired.

To me, that’s what Christmas is all about—the rescue from despair. About the warmth of the rising sun melting the frost, chasing shadows away, bringing hope and a new perspective. It’s about that kind, healing light that pierces through the frozen darkness, brought by Someone rushing to the rescue. It’s the love of God. It’s pure hope. And this is what has kept my head above water. I’ve felt this love through the support and love of family and friends (you guys have no idea how much your love and support has meant to me—no idea), and through little miracles that only I fully get, and through that warmth that fills the heart like sunlight.

My favorite parable is The Good Samaritan. A man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and falls among thieves—beaten and left for dead. A priest and a temple worker, with their many excuses, pass him by. But a Samaritan, a person despised and cast out… stops. As James E. Talmage puts it in ‘Jesus the Christ,’ “he had no excuse [to pass him by], for he wanted none.” At the risk of his life, he cleans and binds the man’s wounds, lifts him up upon his own beast, and takes him to an inn to care for him.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan. When you feel broken, beaten, exhausted, weighed down by hidden wounds that no one else understands, there is one who understands perfectly. There is One who hears the weeping of the broken heart and is not afraid of the dangerous road—He has walked it. He is One Who holds no prejudice, Who will rush to the rescue because He wants to. He will lift you up and carry you Home. He overcame everything, so He can help us overcome anything.