Lauren McLean

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means, God with us."  

 – Matthew 1:23

If you are like me – an over planner, determined to squeeze every possible Christmas activity into the season – Advent doesn’t always feel reflective. It can feel relentless… despite the fact that I willingly sign my family up for each and every activity.  

Each year my husband reminds me not to pack so many things into the season, and yet, the calendar fills up. Meanwhile, the candle of peace may be lit on the wreath, but it feels like everything around me is moving too fast, and far too loud. 

And yet...

God is with us. Emmanuel. 

Not just in the carols sung in our hushed sanctuary or in the soft glow of the candlelight service, though He is surely there. But also, in the glittered construction paper crafts leaving a trail of twinkle in their wake. In the homework crunch between tumble classes and making it to the Nutcracker before the curtain opens.  In the moment your child asks a deep question about Jesus, just before bedtime, and you pause to answer, even though you need to clean up a kitchen covered in flour and Christmas sprinkles. He is with us there, too. These are holy moments. Small, ordinary miracles. Let’s not miss them. 

Emmanuel means God is with us, not just in the stillness, but in the chaos. God has shown me that, sometimes, peace doesn’t look like the absence of chaos. It looks like the presence of God in the middle of it. God’s presence doesn’t require calm. It requires awareness. A slowing of the soul, even for a moment, to say: He is here with me. He is in the deep breath we take between Mike’s Farm hayrides and Enchanted Airlie strolls. In the small pause when your child’s arms wrap around your neck in spontaneous excitement.  

This Advent, let the quiet moments speak. Don’t rush past the breath between the bustle. Look for Emmanuel - not only in the manger scene, but in your car as you taxi everyone from place to place.  Not only in the sacred story, but in your daily one. Let your heart hear God’s peaceful voice in the noise.  

-Lauren McLean