Emmanuel -- God with us. Those three words are a lifeline --especially for anyone who’s walking through December with sorrow.
I still remember this day -- December 17th, 1964. Eight days before Christmas. I was 15, and I saw my daddy go home to Jesus. While other kids were thinking about presents, I wasn't.
I’ve thought about families who walk through this season the same way -- with an empty chair, a quiet room, or the sound of a missing laugh. My heart goes to those like dear Erika Kirk and her two little ones -- brave, bright, and beautiful. But still -- missing their Charlie, her husband, their daddy. Oh, how deep love runs, and how deep Christmas can feel.
As I’ve grown older (and wiser), I’ve learned something that steadies me every year -- my parents, grandparents, siblings and late husband are celebrating Christmas in heaven, with the One who invented it.
And, oh the steady arm of my Savior who anchors me in the unshakable truth -- God is with us. In every season. In every kind of heart.
Jesus didn’t come just to be admired in a manger scene -- oh NO! He came to be with us. In the chaos, in the quiet, in the broken places of our hearts. Emmanuel means “I’m not leaving you alone -- not now, not ever.”
God is with the families who are hurting this year. He is with the ones celebrating. He is with the ones who feel numb and the ones who feel everything at once. And He leans in close with the same reminder He gave long ago -- “I am with you. I am here.”
Matthew 1:23 declares it. Heaven promised it. Jesus proved it. "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Emmanuel” which means GOD WITH US."
Christmas is fast approaching -- and as we step into a new year -- let’s hold this truth -- whether we are happy or hurting, dancing or grieving, full or aching....
EMMANUEL is here -- now and forever with us! He will not leave us.
“…for He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Assuredly not!” Hebrews 13:5
God with us. God for us. God carrying us -- ALWAYS!
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