During the years that I was having kids, my brother & sister were both single.  Secretly I wished that my kids had cousins their own age to play with.  Yet as always God’s timing is perfect.  I now have a wonderful sister-in-law & brother-in-law plus the cutest and two of the most adorable nephews ever.  The fact that I am not also currently in the throes of toddlerhood probably makes me appreciate them even more.

Just like our kids were, my niece who just turned two, is a communicator.  (Yep, she likes to talk).  One of her favorite phrases for awhile was “here.”  If you asked if she would like you to read her a book, she would point to the couch and say “here.”  Or if you asked if she wanted a snack, she would point to the cupboard and say “here” again.  Pretty much we are all quick to her bidding as she is just that adorable.  That is probably much to my sister’s chagrin as she is not wanting to respond as quickly to the whims of a toddler as we are all willing to do.

One of my favorite concepts of the Christmas story has always been “Immanuel.”  The idea that God came down to earth to be here with us.  He did not stay far away.

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

Recently I was finishing reading through the book of Ezekiel.  I must confess that this is a harder book of the Bible to get read through as some of the concepts are a bit boring, confusing, deep.  But when I read the last verse of the whole book, I almost started to cry.

Ezekiel 47:35 “The distance around the entire city will be 6 miles.  And from that day the name of the city will be ‘The LORD Is There.”

Immediately my mind connected the verses.  Not only did God come “here” when we were all in need of a Savior, but He will continue to be “there.”  Even if we may feel alone at times, that is not truth.  The God we  can choose to serve is close.  He remains nearby.    Immanuel.

One song that relays this concept better than any that I have heard is a song that I first featured on this blog two years ago: “I Will Find a Way” by Andy Gullahorn.  Please take the time to listen, especially if you are not feeling that God is close by right now.

P.S. Thanks for being patient with me as I have not exactly been hanging out “here.”  With starting our family business, many things have been put on hold for this season.  I hope to be able to write here more steadily next year and plan on starting my third annual series of “Lyric Lines for my Savior” Christmas series again tomorrow.