Christmas at the Caroline House
“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light.”
Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
Tim Keller in his excellent book Hidden Christmas writes, “Christmas is the only Christian holy day that is also a major secular holiday—arguably our culture’s biggest. The result is two different celebrations, each observed by millions of people at the very same time.”
Each year in mid-November our Women’s Ministry kicks off Briarwood’s Advent celebration with an evangelistic community outreach known as “Christmas at the Caroline House” (CCH). This annual event combines both the secular and the sacred. It also builds community among the dozens of volunteers who generously give their time and talents to provide a beautiful home tour full of holiday inspiration. The home’s ten beautifully decorated rooms are not really the main attraction, however. The main purpose of CCH is to remind us that no matter what trials and tribulations we face, Emmanuel –‘God with us’--was born into the world to save His people from our sins.
This year’s Christmas at the Caroline House theme was Portraits of Hope presented by some of the staff and former residents of The Lovelady Center, a faith-based initiative that supports women in recovering from addiction and rebuilding their lives. This amazing ministry currently houses and feeds more than 400 women and 60 children in a long-term residential program that offers them all a chance to redirect their course and rebuild their lives. Women come to The Lovelady Center (TLC) in several ways—straight from prison to finish out their sentences; through DHR referrals and court orders; or self-admission for help with addiction recovery.
One of The Lovelady Center’s former residents, Candace Jones, shared her personal story, not just of addiction, but of hope, recovery, and redemption. Candace is one of the many TLC women whose story is featured in the Portraits of Hope book. Portraits of Hope is a collection of original portraiture completed by some of the world's greatest portrait artists, inspired by the women of The Lovelady Center. Each painting conveys the strength, faith and resolve that the women and leaders of The Lovelady Center have faced as they overcome life's challenges and trust in God to make them whole again.
Raised by godly parents in a Christian home, Candace Jones began using drugs and alcohol in high school. “These addictions I only played with became the demons that would make a game out of me,” Candace said.
Over the next ten years Candace married and had three sons, but her life quickly spun out of control. Eventually the couple divorced, and Candace lost custody of her children. Her drug use continued, and Candace finally landed in jail. While there, she found and began reading a Bible. Upon her release from jail, Candace came to The Lovelady Center. She now works at TLC, has just purchased her first home, and is rebuilding her relationship with her three sons.
“God breathed life into me,” Candace wrote in Portraits of Hope.
Candace Jones’ oil portrait A Heart Full of Praise by artist Jennifer R. Welty in Portraits of Hope p.55
Candace’s testimony isn’t just an inspirational story; it’s a message of hope in the middle of great darkness and despair. That is also the message of Christmas. Tim Keller helps us again:
Christmas is the most unsentimental, realistic way of looking at life. It does not cay ‘Cheer up! If we all pull together, we can make the world a better place.’ The Bible never counsels indifference to the forces of darkness, only resistance, but it supports no illusions that we can defeat them…. The message of Christianity is “Things really are this bad, and we can’t heal or save ourselves; things really are this dark—nevertheless, there is hope.’ The Christmas message is that ‘on those living in the land of shadow a light has dawned.’ Notice that it doesn’t say ‘from the world a light has sprung,’ but ‘upon the world a light has dawned.’ It has come from outside. There is light outside of this world, and Jesus has come from it to save us. (Emphasis by Keller)
All of us are facing some aspect of darkness and despair this Christmas. Whether it is the fear of war, crushing inflation, divisive politics, gut-wrenching grief, or the consequences of sin, we live in a world of darkness. Those who are in Christ, however, have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13) and have the hope of God’s promises, the hope of resurrection, and the hope of eternity. That’s the good news of Christmas!
“I am the Light of the world.” John 8:12 (NIV)