Choosing to See What Could Be A Christmas Vision of Hope

Melissa Saulnier
Dec 2, 2025
5 min read

I could tell you the ugly parts. I could catalog every wound, every betrayal, every moment when people I trusted tried to dim the light inside me. I could give you the facts, all the ways life tried to crush me, bury my gifts, and convince me I was meant to stay small.

But what if, instead, I told you what I see when I look toward the horizon?

What if I painted for you the picture of what’s possible when we stop letting the past write our future? What if I showed you the beautiful, powerful reality that God has been whispering about all along, the one that’s been waiting patiently for us to finally believe it could be ours?

The Vision That Won’t Stay Buried

There are gifts inside each of us that some have tried to squash. Maybe it was jealousy. Maybe it was fear. Maybe they were simply repeating patterns they’d inherited, keeping others small because they’d been taught to stay small themselves. The why doesn’t matter as much anymore.

What matters is this….those gifts refused to die.

Despite everything, the criticism, the control, the attempts to make us believe we were less than we are, something kept flickering. A knowing deep in our bones that we were meant for more. A vision that wouldn’t quite fade, no matter how many times we tried to be practical, to settle, to accept the limitations others placed on us.

That persistent vision? It’s not stubborn optimism. It’s divine truth knocking at the door, reminding us who we really are.

What I See Now

When I close my eyes and let myself dream without the weight of past disappointments, here’s what I see…I see people loving people. Not the controlling, conditional, performance-based love that masquerades as care while slowly suffocating the soul. No, I see the kind of love that celebrates growth, that cheers for transformation, that holds space for both the beauty and the mess of being human.

I see us helping each other live well. Not competing for limited resources or keeping score of who’s ahead. Not tearing each other down to feel better about our own struggles. But genuinely, authentically wanting the best for each other, and doing what we can to make it happen.

I see building each other up. Speaking words that strengthen rather than diminish. Offering encouragement when someone’s courage falters. Seeing potential in others that they can’t yet see in themselves. Creating spaces where people can discover their gifts rather than hide them.

I see love without control. This might be the most revolutionary vision of all, loving people while letting them be free. Allowing the decisions and mistakes that are part of the learning process. Being there not to manage or micromanage, but to support and celebrate. Trusting that the people we love are on their own journeys with their own divine guidance.

I see joy making a comeback. Not the forced positivity we paste on to get through the day, but the deep, soul-level joy that comes from living authentically. The kind of joy that bubbles up when we’re finally free to be ourselves. The joy that creates ripples, impacting not just our own lives but everyone we touch.

The Choice We Get to Make

Every day, we wake up to a choice. Will we live in the story of what was, or the vision of what could be?

Will we let past hurts dictate future possibilities? Or will we dare to believe that healing is real, transformation is possible, and the best chapters haven’t been written yet?

The facts of what happened are unchangeable. But the meaning we give those facts? The future we build from here? The legacy we create? That’s still being decided.

I’m choosing to see what could be.
I’m choosing to believe that the gifts that were suppressed can still flourish.
I’m choosing to trust that love without control is not only possible but powerful.
I’m choosing to invest in building others up rather than tearing them down.
I’m choosing joy, the kind that impacts not just my own heart but everyone in my circle.

An Invitation

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking about your own buried gifts. The dreams you set aside. The version of yourself you used to be before life taught you to be careful, to play small, to keep the peace at any cost.

Maybe you can feel something stirring, that same persistent vision that refuses to be fully silenced no matter how many times it’s been dismissed.

That stirring? That’s your invitation.

Not to deny what was or pretend the pain wasn’t real. But to stop letting the past have authority over your future. To see what God sees when He looks at you, all the potential, all the purpose, all the possibility that’s been waiting for you to claim it.

This Christmas, give yourself the gift of vision. Not naive optimism that ignores reality, but spiritually-grounded hope that sees beyond current circumstances to divine intention.

What If?

What if the people who tried to squash your gifts were actually just threatened by their brightness?
What if your sensitivity isn’t weakness but your superpower?
What if your story of survival becomes someone else’s roadmap to freedom?
What if the family and friendships you’ve longed for are actually possible, not perfect, but real and beautiful in their authenticity?
What if this season isn’t just about remembering what happened two thousand years ago, but about believing what could happen right here, right now, in your own life?
What if joy really could make a comeback?

The Beautiful Future

I can’t promise you that choosing vision over victimhood will be easy. The people who are comfortable with you staying small might not celebrate your expansion. The patterns that have felt like safety might fight back when you start to outgrow them.

But I can promise you this, the beautiful future is worth fighting for.

The version of you that’s been waiting to emerge, fully alive, fully expressed, fully freed from the opinions and limitations others tried to impose, that person is worth the journey.

The relationships built on authentic love rather than control, those are worth the risk.

The joy that comes from living aligned with your true purpose, that’s worth every uncomfortable conversation and every difficult choice it takes to get there.

So here’s to choosing vision this Christmas season.
Here’s to seeing what could be instead of what was.
Here’s to loving people without trying to control them.
Here’s to letting each other make mistakes and still being there with grace.
Here’s to building each other up instead of tearing each other down.
Here’s to the hidden gifts that refused to stay buried.
Here’s to the beautiful, powerful future that’s been waiting for us to believe it was possible.