The Best Christmas Card

I wrote this a few years ago and found it tonight, thought I would share with you, dear reader.

My husband and I were driving the other day and I said to him, “I wish addiction took a holiday.” It doesn’t though.

The trials and tribulations of loving a child with addiction issues never takes a holiday or a day off. However, Jesus never takes a day off from being the Savior either. He is always near to me, always ready to hear my prayers, always sovereign, always powerful, always loving.

I have a beautiful daughter with scarred hands to match the battle she wages within herself. And although addiction never takes a holiday, her deep and abiding love for her family never takes a holiday either.

In our family, we have this secret way of saying “I love you.” We say, “We are Groot.” This expression stems from the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. In the film there is a talking tree named Groot and all he says throughout the film is, “I am Groot.” Groot’s best friend is a strangely hostile raccoon named Rocket, and only Rocket can interpret what Groot is saying each time he says, “I am Groot.”

Near the end of the film, Groot lays down his life to save his friends. He encircles them inside himself and begins to grow an orb of vines and branches to protect them from death. He then proclaims, “We are Groot.” A powerful explosion occurs and only the orb that Groot has created saves the creatures and people inside it.

In the Dutch language, ‘Groot’ means ‘great.’ In our family, when we say, “We are Groot” we are really saying, “I love you, I would sacrifice for you, we are stronger together.”
When my daughter with the scarred hands recently handed me a Christmas card with Groot on it, not only did she remind me that she loves me, but she reminded me to keep my eyes on the One with the scarred hands who sacrificed His life for mine. 
Addiction doesn’t take a holiday, but neither does Love.
Merry Christmas ~We are Groot.

“I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

P.S. – I wrote this a decade ago? I am delighted to report…. Our beautiful daughter is three years sober and working on becoming a Certified Recovery Support Worker, in order to help others. SHE IS GROOT!