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Dear Pastor,

There is probably no reason to tell you. You already know that folks in Colorado suffer the doldrums in January, February, and March. The holidays are past, the daylight is still in short supply, and problems that have been put off tend to surface again.

It’s no surprise that the day children return to school in January is the day of the year with the most divorce filings.

So, I’m offering this reminder to be on the watch for people in stress. Clearly, the depression and anxiety will be worse this year due to the economy.

The metaphor I always use is this: whatever it was that folks were holding out hope for, it didn’t show up in a box on Christmas. And now they realize it. Both children and adults hold unconscious expectations that Christmas will somehow make things better. And then they discover that the same old problems are still there:

Trouble with siblings
Marriage arguments
Searching for a job
Risk of being laid off
Ill relatives
Caretaker fatigue

You know the signs. It’s just that some people hide them better than others. Then, when things go wrong we are surprised.

The watching of Advent is past, but I encourage you to watch in a different way now. Now is when the discouragement creeps back in for so many. Some will show this on Sunday mornings, some will not. Especially watch those regular church attenders who are not attending regularly.

Yes, I encourage you to bear this in mind in your sermons, but also realize the need for pastoral care services, both your visits and therapy appointments. It will be difficult for folks to justify the cost of counseling at this time, but helping them to count the later emotional cost is important.

While I hope that you use my staff and myself for your referrals, I mostly desire all to receive the care they need regardless of where it comes from. (If you’re not in my region, perhaps my website can be of help: WhatWorksForCouples.com)

The emotional high (and the pastoral exhaustion) of Christmas is now past, and the serious pastoral work begins again. May the compassion, grace and presence of Christ fill you now!