O Come, O Come Emmanuel...

Advent Season is a time of reflection and preparation.  While we reflect on God's gracious gift of His Son, Jesus, two thousand years ago, we also prepare for His return...
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel... The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone... For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called,
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this." Isaiah 7:14; 9:2, 6-7
And He did!
Recall the glorious story of Emmanuel, God with us - Luke 1:26 - 2:21
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came and dwelt among us... He lived the life we couldn't live, died the death we should have died, but the story doesn't end there.  He defeated death and for those who trust in Him, he has promised to make all things new...to the praise of His glorious grace!
You can read the STORY here...

Some of my favorite words for today are, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you...the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:16-18, 26-27

I pray you will trust in the God who cares for you, came for you and will come again... May you experience His peace afresh today...
A brief visual reflection from our Thanksgiving holiday...
Kentucky bound...
Pit stop in Corbin (Tony's old stomping ground...a.k.a. rival ball game territory) to preach...




Following Monday night's service, we headed another two hours north for a few days...
Cousin time... much laughter... good times...




Of course, Tony had to squeeze a Kentucky Wildcats game in...



Had to snap a photo of this sweet girl, though she was sickly one night... preciousness...


We told Joshua to show us his tough face in between his two cousins here...

Not sure about you, but I'm frightened... ha ha ha...



Thanksgiving meal preparations...




Noah found this while looking for a table cloth...not quite the same things, ha ha...




Deliciousness... Tony's mom did it again!



Sibling love...


Following a short, but sweet visit to Kentucky we had to hit the road to Virginia for my grandfather's funeral... These guys were worn out...
We had to combat the Tryptophan...
and the snow...




But we made it! :-)
More cousin time!




Military graveside burial service...

























We stopped by 'Sugar Hill' (where my grandfather built their home many years ago) following the graveside burial for a little visit with my Uncle and his family...  This red barn was a happy sight for us as kids traveling to visit grandparents...


Friday night jam session...






And some dancing...





En route to the memorial service with a tree in our car... ha... made for a few laughs...

Photo opps...






Can you see the resemblance?






We made it home Saturday evening, grateful, despite the circumstances for the latter part of our travel... It was a blessing to get to see all our family....

We look forward to that day when "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away... Behold, I am making all things new... It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment." Revelation 21:4-6

Sunday evening it was time to...
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la la la la la
'Tis the season to be jolly
Fa la la la la la la la la


O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Struggleville. Population: Me.

Image
Several years ago, a few friends and I used the above description amongst ourselves when we were wrestling with various things going on in our lives.  Struggleville was definitely where I was living last week and continue to try to drive out of this week…  Get in my rearview mirror, please! I can only share in generalities, so I hope you will get the big idea.  Here's the nutshell: parenting is hard.  (I know, biggest understatement of the year!)  Parenting children with unknown pasts is challenging.  Parenting is a weighty honor and a role I desire to steward faithfully.  The reality is, I don't have any idea what I'm doing and I cannot do it in my own strength...  Two weeks ago, I spoke at a local church's Mothers of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) gathering.  Last fall, when I was originally asked to speak I had planned on sharing about "Teaching Justice to Children."  After the new year, I began to feel the Lord leading me to share ...
Read more

Oh for grace to trust Him more...

Image
I love this picture... It was taken during our six week adoption stretch in Ukraine.  This little one was 7 years old in the picture.  Can you believe that we will celebrate four years home this May?!.  Most days I feel like she and all her siblings have always been with us.  Other days I wonder, "where did you come from?!."  Ha ha ha...  We have our ups and downs...  We take one step forward and two steps back...   'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take Him at His Word Just to rest upon His promise And to know, "Thus saith the Lord!" Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er; Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! Oh for grace to trust Him more! Oh, how sweet to trust in jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood; And in simple faith to plunge me 'Neath the healing, cleansing flood! Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease; Just from Jesus simply taking ...
Read more

To blog or not to blog, that is the question...

Image
Thankfully, my pondering is a bit lighter than that of Shakespeare's Hamlet .  The last blog post I managed to put together was nearly eight months ago!  Can it be?  I suppose turning forty had something to do with wanting to hit the pause button, to freeze time, to be still and reflect.  Alas, the days kept moving along at a pace that at times seemed too quick to remain in step.  So here I sit, considering what to share, whether to continue sharing through this platform, and the possible frequency at which to share.  Meanwhile, I'll reenter the bloggersphere with a few experiences gone by... "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:19-20       Sister tats : In honor of my baby sister's birthday last August, we four girls decided ...
Read more