God With Us Here

Every time I think about Christmas, I think about something that happened to me a few years ago.

My senior year of high school, I was standing outside, waiting for the activity bus to come so I could go home. As I stood in the cold, I looked over and saw a group of boys playing with a hacky sack. I usually don't cry for no reason, but as I watched them, I was suddenly overcome with emotion and without warning, tears started welling up in my eyes. And I remember the words that I heard in my mind as I watched them: "Jesus came for this."

For the first time, I got it.

Jesus didn't come just so we could experience Him in our "holy" moments. No - He came to make our everyday moments holy. Jesus comes and suddenly the secular is transformed into the sacred. He came to live with us, and that goes beyond our church services and private prayer time.

Jesus came to be with me on my way to my grandma's house yesterday, when I was squished in the backseat of our Ford Taurus with my sister and two brothers (It was a lot of fun...only my youngest brother is still the size of a child). Jesus came for times like today when I got frustrated and hurt by someone I love and want to trust. He came for times like now, when I'm sitting quietly on the computer, listening to the tv in the background. He came for the beautiful, the ordinary, and the painful times.

When I think about this, even when I feel all alone, I don't feel so alone.

It always amazes me that God would share His life with me this way, being with me all the time. It amazes me that God lives with me, showing Himself through all sorts of ways, including people near me. Sometimes, as a person makes eye contact with me, speaks to me, or touches me, I know I'm encountering the God who lives in them.

Emmanuel...God With Us, right here. Wow; I still can't shake the amazement.