He’s Here [Emmanuel]

I meant to finish this *before* Christmas was over, but I digress. Sigh. It’s been a long day (albeit a very lovely one 🙂 ).

This morning, I was outside with one of my dogs, Jennie (my blue heeler mix). She was, per usual, trying to get into something under the carport. I started calling her name to get her back out of the (freezing) cold. “Jennie! Jennie! JENNIE!!” And finally, on the third time, I caught her attention and she came running. She knew just like that that the way I said it meant to get here now.

She knows her name, and she knows what it means when she hears it.

 Names define people. We define the world by giving things a name. A meaning. A purpose.

She will have a son, and they will name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” Matthew 1:23

God is with us.

He was born on this day we call Christmas, to be with us. And He still is.

 I read this from Pastor Mike Glenn’s twitter page: “The Good News of Christmas isn’t that Jesus is coming, but that’s He’s here.”

He’s here.

He’s coming back in flesh, some day. But until then, He hasn’t disappeared. He’s present in our lives, in our homes, our schools-He’s here. And He’s not going anywhere.

He’s with us. He’s in us. Sometimes He just can’t be easily found in us (at least in my life, that’s true).

  It kinda bugs/annoys me when people talk about keeping “Christ” in Christmas. Not that I don’t think it’s a noble cause, making it less about presents and more about celebrating the birth of Jesus. That’s a great thought, no doubt about it (though some go a bit overboard with the whole crusade).

  But the fact is, presents or not, there’s no keeping “Christ” out of Christmas-He IS Christmas. He is IN Christmas whether acknowledged or over-acknowledged.

  Whether you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, Christ is there-He’s present in the joy of the morning coming down to see what Santa brought, in the giggles and “oohs and ahhs” over the goodies in your stocking, in the simplicity of wrapping paper and pretty ribbon being torn to shreds, in the smiles of parents seeing their kids so happy and overjoyed, He’s in the comfort and laughter spending a day celebrating with your family and loved one brings, in the sheer happiness that is Christmas- He’s the reason it’s possible.

 He’s here, and He is “God with us, Emmanuel”- always present and always alive in us.

And for this, I am thankful for Christmas- the day we celebrate that God is here among us, in the form of sweet baby Jesus in a manger. 🙂

I leave you with this beautiful song by Francesca Battistelli-it has become one of my favorite Christmas songs.

Thank you, Jesus, for coming here. For being here. And for staying here, even when Your people stray, You never leave us. Thank you for Christmas, and the joy of celebrating Your birth and arrival on this earth to save us from ourselves. What a beautiful blessing to the world You are, today and every day!

May your Christmases have been beautifully spent with the ones you love, celebrating the reminder that God is with us, all day and everyday. And that, friends, is what the meaning of Christmas is.

Noel, Noel, Jesus our Emmanuel 🙂

it just doesn’t make sense.

My heart just won’t quick hurting.

I’ve been in a state of on and off tears all day. All I want to do is scream.

These kind of tragedies just don’t make any damn sense.

It leaves us with too many questions and not enough answers.

20 children. CHILDREN. Gone.  Small precious lives, that just went to school like on any other day, and will never come home. My heart is broken. And 11 Days before Christmas. Wow.

 We have had too many of these shootings this year. But this one…just rocked me to the core. It doesn’t matter if I knew these children or not…but they’re still children. And that upsets me more than anything.

All I keep asking is why? WHY? WHY?

As a babysitter/ lover of children, all I want to do is hug the sweet babies close to me. I just can’t fathom    this happening to a child I love and care for. Let alone 20.

As a future teacher, it scares me that someone could enter a school/classroom and do what happened here today.

As a daughter of the King, I can’t help but feel sad, confused, and angry. Thankful for me, the God we serve can handle all of that.

So many things like this that happen that I just want to ask God about. Really, I just want to scream it from the rooftops. Why can this happen? How does this happen? Who could allow such a tragedy to happen?
 I know it’s not His doing, but I still don’t understand how. I just can’t help but question and get angry when something so tragic happens to innocent people, especially innocent children.

I just DON’T GET IT. But God doesn’t promise we’re gonna get it. He promises that He’s going to bring us through, even when we don’t understand.

It just sucks. I hate not knowing, not understanding the things that happen in this world (good and bad). It makes me so ridiculously upset knowing that things like this can happen and we have no reason or understanding.

Here’s one thing I DO know:
1. There is a God.
2. I AM NOT HIM. (tough pill to swallow at times!)
3. After the events of today, I am glad I’m not Him, because I’m pretty sure lots of people are demanding answers and understandings we cannot fully know.

All I can understand right now: God is here. He will bring peace and comfort. We may not understand why things happen, but He will get us through.

Father God, please hold the people of Newtown, Connecticut in Your arms tonight. Please lift up the families of the 27 lost, especially the parents of the 20 children that lives were cut way too short. Please give us as Your children peace and comfort to know that even in the chaos, in the tragedy and loss You are still present and will never leave our sides. Even though we can’t understand this situation, we will trust that You will bring us comfort and hope to get through this storm.

the wanderer

AHHHHHHHHHHH.

^That sums up my feelings right now, in a nutshell. 

I’ve feel like I’m caught between a crossroads.

Part of me can’t believe it’s December and in the matter of a week I’m home for the semester. 

The other, slightly more sane part of me is ready to bolt out the door and skip all the way home. RIGHT NOW.

Part of me thinks it has everything figured out.

The other part still has too many questions left to ponder. 

This semester has been full of ups and downs. If I had to be honest with myself, it is a lot of my own fault.

I’ve let myself slack on my faith.

I’ve let myself get in over my head one too many times.

I’ve let myself over think and worry about one too many things.

I let too many negative thoughts and feelings ruin my semester. I focused way too heavily on the struggles and not on the successes.

The successes such as new friendships, rekindled old friendships, lots of fun adventures, lots of laughter, and many memories made. Those things are what made this semester great. It wasn’t the greatest semester, no, but there were great parts of it. Absolutely. 

Me dawdling on the bad hasn’t helped me one bit at all enjoy what God has blessed me with this semester. 

We all have wandered off, like shepherdless sheep, scattered by our aimless striving and endless pursuits; the Eternal One laid on him, this silent sufferer, the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6

^that was in my inbox this morning. Describes pretty much how I’m feeling right now.

No, I don’t think I’ve strayed away from my faith. I still have my faith and my beliefs, and cling to them. I do think I’ve wandered though. Not saying I’ve forgotten God or anything like that…but I do think I’ve let way too many things overrule my life lately. I put focus on my faith on the backburner. As the scripture says, I’ve let other (seemingly endless) pursuits take over. Not that those pursuits may not be important. Most of them probably are. But they aren’t worth losing focus on the big picture-the picture being that God will take care of those pursuits, if I’d just stop worrying about them and fix my eyes on Him. 

I was reading from a devotional about Advent (oh how I love Advent-the preparations for Christmas and Jesus’ birth! What a beautiful season). I loved the prayer it came with: 

God of Advent, kindle within me the flame of hope. As I walk through this day, may that hope remind me of your promise that something good is coming. Amen.   

Deepen my longing for you, O God.

**(from The Uncluttered Heart by Beth A. Richardson)

Something good is coming, folks. In speaking of Advent, the answer of course is the birth of Jesus. 

But if talking about life in general…there’s a promise that good IS coming. We may not know personally what that good is yet. But good is coming. Even if it’s just the hope that finals will soon be over and I can spend a month snuggling with my doggies. (I really don’t want much, do I?!) 😉 

My hope for this season is that I remember Whose I am, because I think there have been times where I’ve simply forgotten lately. Life has a way of doing that I think. 

But now, as Christmas and holidays approach, it is time to stop wandering and find my longing for God again. I know it’s here…it’s just piled under a lot of stress (and lots and lots of finals). 🙂