Almighty God

Thanks to this PCS, Christmas will be in Military lodging . . .

Or your service member has staff duty on Christmas Eve . . .

Or this duty station is nothing like what a holiday setting should look like . . . (it doesn’t look anything like a Hallmark Christmas movie!)

Or you won’t be able to get home from deployment in time . . .

Keeping holiday ­–holy-day– traditions proves difficult in the Military. For many, losing those normal things adds to the feeling of isolation from family, community, and even faith.

Fortunately for us, the Almighty God doesn’t need our traditions to create a holy moment. He isn’t hindered by our current location. He can be our Emmanuel, our God-with-us, no matter the time, the setting, or the circumstances.

“A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”

Matthew 1:23 (CEV)

Over 2,000 years ago, in a time of national turmoil, when God’s people were under the tyranny of the Roman empire and were longing for a deliverer, Jesus came. To a couple who were about to get started in married life, to a young mother-to-be who only knew she said yes to God’s plan but couldn’t even find a place to stay, God came in person.The Almighty drew near.

Not to a perfect home with cinnamon candles glowing.

Not to a fabulous meal with beloved people around the table.

Not even to a reverent church service with little girls in dresses and little boys with perfectly combed hair.

He came to the mess of this world.

So if you are mourning missing family or your spouse, if you are eating Christmas dinner at the only open bar and grill on the highway, if you are too far away to touch and hold and taste and see . . . you are not beyond the reach of a holy moment. You are not outside of God’s presence. You are not hopeless to find a meaningful Christmas and share it with your child.

While traditions are lovely to ground our children, being able to access Jesus, the Emmanuel, no matter the circumstances, is the far superior gift.

PRAY

Lord, thank You for coming to our mess. Forgive me for limiting You to my traditions. Show Yourself to our family this year in a new and special way. Amen.

TIME TO TALK

Conversation starter for kids: Provides you with questions and prompts to facilitate a time of applicable discussion with children to lead them towards knowing God and His Word more deeply.

Question(s): What do you think the first Christmas was like? If the all-powerful God could come to a stable, is there anywhere He can’t or won’t come?

Apply: If you can, get out to a barn or at least under the stars at night and imagine the Christmas story.

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help parents expand Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Swipe to read the passages today.

Zephaniah 3:17

Luke 1:76-79