Rev. Kelli Hitchman-Craig
December 22, 2025
This will be my first Christmas in over a decade that I will not be serving a local church. I began a new role with The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women in August, and nearly every day since has felt like a gift, holy, humbling, and deeply aligned with my calling. I am grateful beyond words for this work and for the ways it continues to shape me. And yet, as Christmas Eve approaches, I find myself keenly aware of how different this season looks for me. The familiar rhythms of Advent and Christmas feel quieter this year, and the absence of what once was leaves space for reflection I did not anticipate.
And as I think about that, I can’t help but hold in my heart all whose Christmas is looking rather different this year. Change has a way of finding us even in the midst of the most familiar seasons. Sometimes it arrives with hope and excitement, and sometimes it arrives with grief, disruption, or longing. Most often, it’s a mixture of all of it at once. So, for all of us navigating a new Christmas “normal,” a blessing:
For those who have been advocates and champions of positive change in their own lives and in the lives of others, may the joy of new traditions, fresh memories, and growing community warm your hearts and shape your days. May you remain rooted in a deep and holy joy, both in this season and in all the seasons yet to come.
For those whose families that have been changed because of death, may the love that was shared still find you, wrapping itself around your grief with tenderness. May memories rise gently and may you feel permission to mourn even in the midst of celebration.
For those grieving divorce, separation, or changes in custody of children, may God meet you in the quiet spaces and remind you that you are not alone, even when traditions are interrupted or rewritten.
For those struggling to create the magic of Christmas because of changing financial realities, may you be freed from shame, stress, and worry. May you remember that the heart of this season was never excess, but presence, generosity, and love.
For those who have changed jobs, whether with joy or with heartbreak, may you trust that your worth is not tied to productivity or titles. May you sense God walking with you into what is new and unknown.
For those who celebrate Christmas longing to be like Mary, holding a baby in their arms, may your ache be honored and your hope sustained. May your body and spirit be treated with deep compassion, and may you know that you matter.
For those living amid violence and war in places like Palestine, Ukraine, and regions torn by civil conflict, may the promise of peace not feel like an empty word. May safety, justice, and dignity come swiftly, and may the world not turn away from your suffering.
For those who cannot find the Christmas spirit because the weight of the world feels too heavy, may you know that God does not require cheerfulness, only honesty. May your weariness be met with gentleness.
This is the good news of Christmas: God enters the world not in perfection, but in disruption. Not in certainty, but in vulnerability. Christ is born into a world that is already aching, already complicated, already unfair, and chooses to dwell there anyway.
So, if your Christmas is quieter, lonelier, heavier, or simply different than you imagined, know this… You are not missing the miracle; You are standing right in the middle of it. God is as present in the silence as in the song, as near in the grief as in the joy.
May the God who came as a child meet you exactly where you are this season. May you find yourself held by grace, by love, and by a hope that refuses to let go.
Hitchman-Craig is the director of leadership development and community engagement for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women.