God. Is. With. Us.

Last week felt more like 365 days than its actual 7. Not because it went by so slowly, oh no. But because of all the things that filled those days. Work schedules, and parties, and driving, and injuries, and practice, and singing, and more practice and more singing. I get tired just typing the general things that took place. But the week came to a beautiful, big, bright, shining conclusion last night. It was Christmas By Candlelight week for Shades. And with those words come many thoughts, but the most victorious one is that God is truly glorified in the hours of those performances. The beauty of the Christmas story is told in all its wonder...Christ is worshipped with all our hearts...and God is high and lifted up. What an honor it was to be there, in it all. Sharing with my brothers and sisters the joy of what Christmas is truly about.

One of the most piercing truths of last night's services lies in four words: God is with us. Emmanuel in a manger. The Word wrapped in human flesh. A baby born to die. A Savior stepped out of heaven and onto earth so that we might be saved and know God as we were created to know Him. Love Him as He shows us how. And the greatness of that idea is not that it was true all those years ago...it's that it is true still today.

Amidst clinic workloads: God is with us. In silence as you fall asleep: God is with us. As tears stream down your face: God is with us. As those tears are wiped away and replaced with joy: God is with us. When patience seems foreign: God is with us. When your heart could explode with love for another: God is with us. In the moments you don't understand: God is with us. In the moments that couldn't be more perfect: God is with us. Whether in want or in plenty, in love or in pain, in sorrow or in joy, in total satisfaction or complete disarray: God is with us.

Find comfort in that promise, sweet friend.



"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18, 20