I wonder if Mary wished her mother were there to help her deliver her new baby. I wonder if she was saddened at her station in life. Did she wish that she had more to give her new son than a birth in a manger?

I wonder if she mourned the absence of her friends. Did she feel alone? Lost in a big world that seemed not to see her? I wonder if Christmas day — the day Mary delivered her baby — was a day of mourning, too.

I wonder if the holiday season — the time of year where you sit right now reading this devotion — is a time of mourning for you. I wonder if you’re lamenting another Christmas season spent not quite the way you thought.

I wonder if you’re grieving because someone you love is not here this year. I wonder if you’re sad because you feel alone, or life isn’t quite where you’d like it to be. I wonder if you feel twists or twinges in your heart as the notes from "Joy to the World" don’t seem to ring true in your life. I wonder.

Sometimes, there is mourning in the midst of the merry.

And I don’t have an answer. I don’t have anything monumental to say to get rid of the heart-hurts you might have today.

But I do know that if we keep going, mourning can TURN into merry.

I know Mary saw her Son live the only perfect life in history. Any mother would love to see her children live their lives well.

I know there was glory waiting for Jesus after the agony of the cross.

And I know that while I miss my grandmother, I will see her again one day.

You will not always be in this place. You will not always feel the same intensity of hurt, pain or sadness. You will not always feel lonely.

Sometimes there is mourning. But the merry is still happening.

Walk through the mourning. Don’t deny it. Be honest about the pain or ache that you feel. But don’t miss the merry.