Welcome
to the 12 Pearls of Christmas blog series! I am so excited to be taking part in it this year. The authors who will be sharing their works are some of my favorite. Susan May Warren kicks the Pearls for Christmas concept off and she is one of my favorite authors.
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contributors! Enter
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Today's entry is:
God
with Us . . . And Us with Him
By:
Susan May Warren
Every year over labor day weekend, the Warren family
has a MWE. Mandatory Warren Event. It’s a call to come home and enjoy the long
weekend with our favorite people. Since my children have left for college, I
relish every second of this weekend—the laughter in the kitchen, the long
conversations in the family room, the frenzy of backyard football, the
quietness of the morning as we drink coffee on the deck and watch the sunrise.
I cherish these people, and when they are with me, I drink in their presence.
I’ve been reading the prophecies about Christ this
season and came across Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you[ a
sign: The virginwill conceive and give birth to a son, and will
call him Immanuel.
I am struck by the word Immanuel. God
with us. The closest I get to comprehending this is reading about how Jesus’
loved his disciples. Surely they relished the time with him more profoundly
after his resurrection, knowing he would soon leave.
Thankfully, he didn’t leave them for long and sent
His Holy Spirit. God . . . still with them.
As I consider the magnitude of this God who would
come to earth, who would abide with the disciples, and then with me, I have to
wonder not only do I relish God’s presence in my life, but does
God relish time with me? Am I committed to embracing His entrance into my
life? Am I even making the effort to see Him?
Imagine that during our MWE weekend, I ignored my
children, and they, me? I would lose the joy of their presence.
It is not surprising to me that the Jewish people
did not recognize their Savior. After all, who would guess that the Almighty
might package himself as a baby and appear among them, fragile and dependent?
But today, we know the story, we know the miracles, we know the truth, and God
invites us into an abundant relationship, one that He wishes to relish, one
that will change us. A relationship that will slake our thirsts and satisfy our
hungers. One that reminds us that we are never alone.
Because every day we are a mandatory event to our
Immanuel.
This season, look for the ways that God is your
Immanuel, with you, every day.
Susan
May Warren is the best-selling, award-winning author of over 40 novels. With
over 750,000 books in print, her stories of family, romance and adventure have
earned her acclaim and reader fans from around the world. Visit her
website for upcoming books and sneak peeks!
Come back between now and the 25th and read another contribution. Hope you enjoyed it.
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