Christmas on the Front Lines

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You might be listening to this in your vehicle during

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your shift, sitting in the day room between calls, or maybe at

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home trying to catch a quiet moment during a busy season.

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Wherever you are, I want to take a few minutes today to step away

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from training and peer support strategies and share a special

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Christmas episode. Now, I know something right up front. Not

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everyone listening to this podcast celebrates Christmas the

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same way I do. Some of you come from different faith traditions,

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and some of you may not consider yourself religious at all. It

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doesn't matter. You're welcome here, and I'm glad you're

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listening. At the same time, I don't want to pretend Christmas

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is just about lights or gifts or days off for most people. For me,

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in my faith tradition, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus

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Christ, God stepping into our messy world as a baby in a

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manger. So today, I'm going to talk about Christmas from that

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place. My hope is that, whether you share that faith or not,

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you'll still find encouragement, hope, and maybe a little bit of

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peace in what we talk about.

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Welcome to Surviving Your Shift, your go-to resource

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for building strong, peer support teams in high-stress

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professions. I'm your host, Bart Leger, board-certified in

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traumatic stress with over 25 years of experience supporting

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and training professionals in frontline and emergency roles.

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Whether you're looking to start a peer support team, learn new

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skills, or bring training to your organization, this show

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will equip you with practical tools to save lives and careers.

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If you work in a high-stress profession, you

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already know this. Christmas is a little different for most of

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us.

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Many of you are still pulling on the uniform, still heading into

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the ER, still answering 911 calls, still climbing into the

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rig. You're handling house fires that started with Christmas

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lights or domestic calls that got louder after the family

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dinner or medical calls at grandma's house and welfare

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checks on people who've never felt more alone. For some of you,

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Christmas means working a double while your kids open presents

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without you or eating cold food out of a go box while everyone

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else is posting their perfect moments online. I remember a

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number of years ago. Christmas Day fell during my shift a

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couple of years. The next year rolled around, and it was going

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to fall on my day off. I was so looking forward to spending time

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with my young family until word came down that I was going to be

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moved to another shift. Yep, it was the Christmas shift. Oh well,

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such is the life. It's not easy. So before I say anything else, I

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want you to hear this from me. Thank you. Thank you for serving

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when it would be easier to stay home. Thank you for showing up

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on the days that matter most to other people. And if you're

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feeling a little torn about that, grateful to serve, but also sad

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or frustrated about what you're missing, that's okay. I know the

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tension is real. Christmas can be beautiful, but it can also be

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painful. Some of you are carrying fresh grief this year.

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Maybe this is the first Christmas without someone you

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love. My wife, Catherine's mom, died right before Christmas not

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long ago. Maybe your family is split up. Maybe you're far from

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home. Maybe you've got a son or daughter, a spouse or a parent

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who won't be sitting at the table this year because of death,

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divorce, or simply distance. If that's you, I want you to know

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you're not weak for feeling that, and you're not broken because

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this season doesn't feel merry and bright. You're human.

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busy shifts, complicated family situations, grief, or loneliness,

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what does Christmas have to say to us? Let's go back to the

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original story for a minute. When we talk about the birth of

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Christ, we're not talking about a postcard scene. We're talking

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about a young couple, far from home, in a crowded town, with no

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room for them. We're talking about a baby born in a place

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where animals were kept. We're talking about a dangerous time

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under an oppressive government, in a world where people were

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tired, afraid, and waiting for something, someone, to change

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things. And into that world, not a perfect world or a peaceful

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world, certainly not a safe world, God comes close. Not a

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politician or a conquering king, but as a baby. The Bible

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describes it as a light shining in the darkness. You and I know

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a little something about darkness. We've seen it on

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scenes, in back bedrooms, in trauma bays, in the back of a

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patrol car, in quiet conversations in the hallway

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after a tough call. Sometimes we see it in other people's eyes,

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and sometimes we feel it in our own. Christmas, for me, is this

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reminder that God doesn't stand far off from that darkness. He

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steps into it. He's not scared of it, and He's not surprised by

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it. And He doesn't demand that we clean ourselves up or get our

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act together before He comes near. He shows up in a manger,

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in a barn, in the middle of a chaotic census, in a family that

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doesn't have everything figured out. And that's good news for

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all of us, because our lives aren't neat and tidy either. Our

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schedules don't line up with Hallmark movies. Our homes don't

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always look like Christmas cards. And don't I know, our hearts

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don't always feel peaceful. The message of Christmas isn't, try

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harder to be happy. The message of Christmas is, a Savior has

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been born. God is with us. Now, if you're listening and you

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don't share that belief, again, I want you to know, I respect

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you, and I'm glad that you're here. Even if we see this

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holiday differently, there are some things I think we can all

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lean into during this season. We can lean into hope, the idea

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that dark seasons don't last forever, and that there's still

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goodness ahead we may not even see yet. We can lean into peace,

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not the absence of calls or chaos, but the kind of peace

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that says, I can take a breath. I don't have to carry this alone.

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And we can lean into presence, being fully with the people in

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front of us, whether that's our family at home, our coworkers at

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the station, or a patient we're holding a hand for at 2 a. m.

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And from my faith perspective, we can lean into the presence of

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God, a God who sees and who knows and who comes close in the

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person of Jesus. If you're working this Christmas, I want

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to encourage you to do a couple of things. Sometime during your

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shift, if you can grab even 30 seconds, just pause. Maybe

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you're in the ambulance bay, maybe in the hallway, maybe in

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your patrol car, maybe in a quiet corner of the nurse's

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station. Take a slow breath and remind yourself, even if you

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don't quite feel it, I'm not alone. God, thank you for being

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with me right here. You don't have to use fancy words, and you

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don't have to sound like a preacher. Just an honest moment.

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If you're off for Christmas and with family or friends, I want

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to invite you to be intentional about savoring one small,

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ordinary moment. It might be your kid's laughter, the smell

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of something cooking, a hug from someone you love, a quiet moment

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on the couch after everyone's gone to bed. Don't rush past

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those. Those are gifts, too. And if this season hurts, and for

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some of you, it really does, give yourself permission to feel

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that and also to reach out. Maybe that's to a chaplain, a

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pastor, a trusted friend, or someone on your peer support

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team. You don't have to slap on a smiley face and pretend

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Christmas is easy. It's okay to say, this year's hard. That

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honesty doesn't push God away. In my experience, that's often

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where He meets us. I also want to say this. If you're listening

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to this, you matter more than you know. You're not just a

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badge number, a patch, or a roll. You're a person with a story,

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with a soul, created by God and loved by Him. Your life has

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value beyond what you do on the job. Christmas is a reminder of

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that, too, of a God who thought you were worth coming close to.

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So, as we wrap up this special Christmas episode, my hope for

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you is simple. I hope you find a moment of quiet in the middle of

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the noise. I hope you feel seen, even if it can't be with

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everyone you love this year. I hope you sense that you're not

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carrying the burdens by yourself. And I hope, in some way, the

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story of that baby in Bethlehem, Jesus, born into a messy, broken

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world, brings you a little more courage, a little more comfort,

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and a little more hope. Thank you for what you do. for how you

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serve. Thank you for the ways you show up, even when no one's

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watching and no one's posting about it. We'll be back next

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time with more conversations about peer support, wellness,

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and surviving your shift.

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that you won't just survive this season. You'll find a little bit

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of joy in it, too. Thanks for listening to Surviving Your

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Shift. Merry Christmas, God bless, and have a great day.