It’s almost the end of December and the end of another year. A time where our hearts swell in hope of the future God has promised us. The last few weeks of December can be hard for some of us as we look back at the year.

I don’t know what hard thing you did this year, maybe you buried a loved one, left a job, faced a cancer diagnosis or moved to a city where you don’t know anyone. Maybe nothing happened at all this year when you were hoping for something to change in your life. Maybe this was the year you found hope, you met your husband, or moved into your dream job.

In all of these moments, even when you didn’t feel it, God was always there. In every bleak moment where we lost our strength, God was with us. He is not the God who leaves us when things are hard but rather, the God who is close to the brokenhearted.

Immanuel, that is his name. The God who is with us. Though sometimes, if you’re like me, you may find yourself wondering during difficult moments if He really was. Even then, you know deep in your heart, He was always there. In the silence, and in the pain.

If you are waiting on a miracle this Christmas season, I just want to encourage you not to lose hope. Even if this year ends without the miracle you were praying for, don’t lose hope. God hears you, sees you and loves you. You don’t know all the miracles God has stored up for you in the days ahead. These might be hard days but there are days of joy ahead of us. Even while we wait, we are changing and becoming more like Jesus. One day, you will look back and see traces of God’s goodness in all of these moments.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:5-6 (NIV)

For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NLT)

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:23 (NLT)

P.s. Thank you for sticking around!!

Thank you so much for reading all my blogs and encouraging me as I started this journey of blogging again. I hope you have a beautiful Christmas and a wonderful start to 2025!