Emmanuel.
God with us.
It’s the theme that keeps playing on the screen of my heart this Christmas.
I sit in church on Christmas Eve morning and feel the words seep into my soul.
God with us.
Emmanuel.
The manger scene on my bookshelf, set out at the beginning of Advent, sits as a quiet testament to the Truth of it.
A tiny baby is snuggled in the manger carved of porcelain, surrounded by witnesses of the glorious moment when the world was forever changed.
Through the raw, undignified labor of childbirth God came to us.
On that first Christmas night he found His home in a barn, the breath and body heat of animals filling the air with a sweet, musty odour.
The gentle movements of cattle rustling in the straw were the backdrop to one young woman’s delivery.
“And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, for there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7
Just like that, God entered the world He had created and sought out the hearts of humanity as He always does.
A young woman and her humble husband,
shepherds working in the fields nearby,
the townspeople of a small town in Judah called Bethlehem,
the king of a mighty empire,
an elderly woman and man in the temple in Jerusalem,
men from the far east.
God here with us for one purpose;
to redeem the brokenness and seek out the hearts of His beloved creation.
Emmanuel, God with us.
Suddenly, there was hope.
I look back over the past year and it’s those words that ring in my ears.
“God with us.”
He was,
he is,
and he will be.
Steadfast love.
“Never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.” -The Jesus Storybook Bible
I watch my children’s eyes as my husband walks them through the Christmas story, the porcelain figures in their hands as we recount the events of that first celebration of Jesus’ birth over 2000 years ago.
I see it’s like a story to them.
They don’t understand yet, but someday they will see it;
this Emmanuel feeling…God with us.
So much humility and gratitude in the realization.
God here with us in the mess of our lives,
delighting in our little acts of worship to Him.
We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out the candle.
My daughter wonders how many cand
les should really be there, and her brow furrows in concentration as I try to explain that there was never a beginning.
I peel back the wrappings on the large wooden plaque and I see a map of the world painted on the rough wooden slabs.
My husband smiles at my delight and I study the span of it.
We point out to the children where we are and where their aunt is, clear across the expanse of the map in Australia.
This one world that seems so huge to us, but is such a tiny dot in the eye of that one God who entered into it.
Emmanuel.
One of my favourite Christmas songs com
es on and I close my eyes and take a moment to settle in it.
God Is With Us
The stars seem brighter than they’ve been before
Deep within I feel my soul a stirring
As though my hope has been restored
Confirming rumors spread across the land
That a child protected well from Herod’s anger
Is our father’s son, and the son of man
Love is raining down on the world tonight
There’s a presence here I can tell
God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel
He’s the savior we have been praying for
In our humble hearts he will dwell
God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel
I feel compelled to tell all who will listen
That peace on earth is not so out of reach
If we can find grace, mercy and forgiveness
He has come to save, he is all of these
You’re the savior we have been praying for
In our humble hearts you will dwell
You are in us, you are for us
You are with us,
Emmanuel
~Casting Crowns
It’s true.
Emmanuel means He has come down here to us.
God is in us.
He is for us.
He is the hope we can hang our heartstrings on and know, without a doubt, that He will be able to hold the weight of all of us and our world.
~AF
Adoption, Mommyhood & the Rest 