God with us... a real thing

Another Christmas...
another Christmas to try to understand just what God coming down to us in flesh means in reality.  Trying to just grasp that God, creator, magnificent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God came down to earth for me, for you.  And what does it mean that he did that?  What does it look like?

This morning, just this morning at 8 o'clock, I think I saw God....here...touching earth...
Problem is I don't look often enough for Him, because if I did, if we did, we would see Him EVERYWHERE.

A woman that I do not know except that she takes the same nutrition we do and cares about people, got me on the phone with a farmer's wife and mother of 6, ages 1-15. That conversation brought back lots of memories that I don't think about... much...a time when my kids were younger, a lot younger.  A time when Larry was in a coma. A time when I hurt a lot and saw God everywhere.

 I could hear the fear, the exhaustion, the dogged endurance this young wife and mother is going through.  Her husband is in a coma, six months in a coma, hurt from a farm accident.  He's home, but he doesn't speak, he just watches and and she thinks he listens.

 She waits and that is hard, but she prays...
      She longs for him to speak one word, and she prays...
           She tries to help the children understand, but they don't..
What she didn't say is:
      She wants his arms around her, but she feels God's arms around her...
             She who once depended on him, her earthly man, now depends on HIM, her heavenly Father....for everything.
And she waits....and waits....and waits as she prays and prays and prays.

And I saw God here, on earth, in her....because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that without HIM,
    she couldn't do what she has been doing for months,
       she wouldn't have hope that this will all be okay.
And she could not have said, "I know this is God's plan. He has a plan and this is okay."

Lee Ann, thank you for letting me see how that baby in the manger affects our everyday lives.

Because He came down as flesh and dwells in us, we are enabled to live lives that bring honor and glory to Him because of what He does in us..

Because LOVE came down, we can know that there is more....a lot more after our time here is done.
And His peace has come to us.

We can wait because of the Christ child.
    We can wait because we trust Him.
        We can love because He first loved us and gave Himself for us.

 He didn't take the easy route, He didn't stay in heaven where life was easy and He had it made.  No, He came as a crying infant who was needy, who was humbled because of that neediness. He came in spite of how much being here would hurt.  He came because He loved you, He loved me.

And so we praise and thank You, Lord.  We thank You for Your work in us...whether we are "strong" or "weak," whether we are on top of the circumstances or on the bottom, whether we are "good" or "bad." Because it is always and forever Your at work in us.  It doesn't matter what we do or don't do, You still love us....You are still working out Your perfect plan to bring glory to your Name.

And so God, I thank you for Your work in LeeAnn.  I thank you for how you are using her.  I ask that she and her six children will learn to depend on you more and more and each day passes,,,me too. Amen