Hope for Abused Women During Christmas

DECEMBER 18, 2023 | April Noska, Director of Intake and Client Care

For women who have escaped abuse, the holiday season can be an especially hard time. April Noska, Director of Intake and Client Support, shares a word of encouragement to our mamas and to all women escaping abuse:

"I know that the Christmas season can be so hard for many of us. We look at our situation and recognize that things are not as they should be and not as we hoped they would be. And with all the busyness and demands that come along with this time of year, it can be overwhelming. You are not alone in feeling overwhelmed, tired, and grieved.

Our hard emotions are an invitation to remember “the reason for the season”—as cliche as that is. The birth of Jesus invites us to hope. Why is that? The God of the universe entered into the human experience alongside the lowly and suffering. He entered into our shame. Diane Langberg says this:

A baby born to an unwed mother—shameful. A child of Nazareth—shameful. A man who walked roads in the company of women—shameful. He touched lepers, demoniacs, and bothered with children—shameful…he was shamed by the world he made. He became shame, embodied it.

What does this mean for you and me? Our suffering and our trauma is not too much for our Savior. He truly is Immanuel: God with us.

Sometimes in the midst of trauma and in its aftermath, it can seem like God is far. I invite all of you to ask him to show you how he has drawn near to you. And whatever struggle or sorrow you are dealing with this season, remember that there will be a day when Jesus will wipe away our tears and “there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain” (Rev. 21:4)."