I was at Henningers the other day and was in a rush to pick up a thank you card. As my eyes were scanning the rows, I stopped on a Christmas card. Try that I may to continue browsing, I couldn’t stop myself from being drawn back to the Christmas card. It was a real warm card of a boy and a girl sitting in front of a fireplace. The warmth of the firelight glowed upon them as they placed the nativity figures into a manger. At the top of the card, it said “Believe In The Miracle.”
From just looking at this picture, I had a real sense of peace. I thought about that childlike faith, and it reminded me of my childhood; I loved setting up the manger, and I would show my little sisters where everyone belonged. Often we would imagine what it would have been like to be present on the night that Jesus was born.
I remember one year, my mother told me that I couldn’t place the baby Jesus into the manger… He wasn’t supposed to be in there yet. So I set up all of the other figures, and noticed they seemed to be staring at the ground. Jesus was missing… there was something wrong… there was an emptiness inside of me.
The prophecy, “The virgin shall be with a child and she will name him Immanuel ” – which means ‘God with us’, proclaims that.
God is here in our presence. So as we enter into this Advent season, look into yourselves and see what is bothering you… what is wrong in your life… what is missing -and- know that Jesus is the only thing that can fill that emptiness; Jesus is with you!
