Immanuel 2008

I have known some who barely notice the turning of one year into the next. Just another twenty-four hours sliding quietly into another.

It doesn't feel that way to me.

This year those seconds ticking down and then the welcome of the new year were quiet for me, but very noticed. I hadn't yet let go of Christmas. I mentioned in my blog post a month ago that I love Christmas. I wasn't kidding.

So as the New Year came, I wasn't quite ready to let the season go. For the most part, I didn't mind packing up the ornaments, even as much as I enjoy how those seem to make my house feel more warm and upbeat during December. But those items do tend to be reminders for me of God's gift in Jesus—Immanuel, God with us—my favorite Christmas theme. I realized it was that "theme" I wasn't ready to let go of.

But I don't have to.

As I spent time praying on New Years Day, I realized, God-Immanuel is a thought I can, with intentionality, take with me throughout the year.

God is with me. Not just at Christmas, and not just as a babe in the manger.

I thought about the year ahead and wondered what it would bring. Most of all I wondered, on December 31st of 2008, when I look back, where will I have so clearly seen God with me, God with us.

Will I have noticed him? Invited him?

Will I have lived more fully, breathing in and out his love, drawing from the deep well of his wisdom?

Even in the dark or painful moments, where without him I am crushed, will I have seen him as God-Immanuel and known he was with me?

Will I have sought a new depth of relationship with Jesus, God-Immanuel? I hope so.

That is my prayer. And it's my prayer for you.

Jan

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