Christmas is Different This Year

Last night I attended a wonderful Christmas program at a church in the area. At this concert, the guest singer told us of a ministry he had founded that reaches out to children whose parent(s) are in prison or those who are falling behind in school. Normally, I would have just thought "this man is doing a good thing for others. Good for him." I would have then gone about my regular business of the night. However, last night was different.

You see, in March my music minister back home was charged with sexual abuse and misconduct with a minor in a previous church. This was a shock to everyone and totally threw me for a loop. He was a great guy who had a wonderful wife and two adorable children. No one would have ever suspected any of this. Very long story short, he was found guilty and is spending the next two Christmases in a prison in Maryland, thousands of miles away from his family. Because of his one wrong choice, he is now living the consequences of that choice. Christmas will be different this year for him, his wife, and his kids.

I think the strangest part of all of this is that his children are now in that statistic of "children who's parent(s) are in prison." That was hard to come to terms with last night. It just is so completely UNFAIR. I HATE IT!!!! This will be their first Christmas without dad around and I know it won't be easy. But I also know that someway, somehow God will see them through this Christmas and the one to follow.

Which brings up a whole different, yet somewhat related issue, these kids will see their father again. Yes, they will have a long road of healing ahead of them, but they will see him again here on this earth. What about my friend whose kids won't spend another Christmas with their dad? That still sucks and always will. I wonder which is more difficult to work through..the incarceration of a parent or the death of a parent. In some ways I think they are similar, both dealing with the loss of a parent, in other ways they are completely different.

Christmas is different this year and I pray to God that He will help them through.