Photo Credit: Melinda Prince

She left home pregnant and almost full-term, traveled about 40 miles by foot, and gave birth in a stable. It was really more like a stone cave than a wooden shack, but it was still messy and smelly and far from the pristine clean perspective we see on Christmas cards.

Nothing was as she imagined, no friends or family and isolated from those she loved at one of the most special times of life, the birth of her first-born child.

Yet one thing Mary knew was Immanuel — God was with her. He saw her. He saw who she was and where she was. This knowledge of Immanuel helped her to endure and do life different. The Bethlehem Star rose high in the sky marking the fulfillment of God’s promise. Hope had come into the world and rested in Mary’s heart.

As we conclude this month and reflect on 2020, let us remember the “Bethlehem Star” that appeared recently in the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. If there was any year we needed to see the star, it was this one.

Life is still messy, but Hope is still present.

Immanuel.

We have been separated from those we love at this special time of year, but God is near.

Immanuel.

We feel unseen, but God sees us.

Immanuel.

And we are tired, but we have been given the Power to endure.

Immanuel.

We, too, can do life different, because Immanuel—God is with us.