Immanuel...

On the way to church tonight for the Christmas Eve service, I was struck by how many people are spending Christmas alone. While I don't think the purpose of Christmas is family, it is such a comfort to celebrate with family. It is one of two holidays I've managed to ensure I'm always with family (Thanksgiving being the other). I honestly can't fathom not being with people I love and care about during such an important day.

On top of that, being alone is probably one of my biggest fears. Now don't get me wrong, I love to spend time by myself. I've never been great at having roommates, and as much as I can be perceived as loud and outgoing, I can sink into my own head so easily and crave time to decompress by myself. However, it is a comfort to know I can always come home and be surrounded by family when I need them or just need to be around people. It is always reassuring to know I have friends who I could call and they would drop everything if I needed them. And I'm still praying I'll find a man who I can spend the rest of my life with... eventually.

All that to say, there are people not as fortunate. We think a lot about those less fortunate financially during the holidays. There are toy drives and adopt-a-family programs and tons of ways to support those who might be hungry or cold or going without toys this Christmas. I don't want to take anything away from them or what they might be going through. I just have really felt it pressed on my heart tonight to lift up those people who might be surrounded by material possessions, in a warm house, with the world at their fingertips... but alone. I'm praying everyone has someone they can spend Christmas with... and if I knew of someone who needed a place to go tomorrow I'd make room at our table.

Sometimes when someone complains about feeling alone, the easy "Sunday School" answer is to remind them we're never alone, because God is with us. It doesn't always feel like enough to know this being we can't see and can't always here is with us and it can feel like empty encouragement. Our church played a video tonight during the service, reminding us of the verse from Matthew 1:23... "'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us')."

Too often, I have sped right past that. There are so many names for God, it's easy to take them for granted. "God with us" just sat with me tonight and I was reminded... even when it feels empty or not enough... God is enough because he sent His son to be God with us. We are never alone... even when it's Christmas... even when we feel like we're alone... We are never alone.

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