“Sit with me! Stay with me just a little longer, please!” Similar plaints of a sleepy child at bedtime speak of need and trust… and a hope of delaying sleep and reluctance to acknowledge the day’s end.

While we often treasure quiet time alone, there is also within us an appreciation and a need of another’s comforting presence, isn’t there?!

“Come on in. Stay a while,” others may say. Spending time with family, friends, and new acquaintances can have many benefits. Shared experiences and interests often bring us together, whether through enjoyment or trials. Spending time together can bring a sense of security, unity, and mutual understanding… especially when we face changes or prepare for a different future than that expected or hoped for.

There is a bonding and strengthening, both in times of loss and of celebration, when someone thinks of us and shares their time and presence. It cheers the heart and turns our eyes toward our Creator God.

All this and more seems to open my heart and understanding to God Himself, to realize His great love and the sacrifice He made to come among us, His children. God offered us His very presence, a Light among us, and invited us to join Him!… How wonderfully amazing is that?!

Through the simple willingness of Mary, Jesus Christ (God’s Son) entered the word to live among us and with us… and to bring us hope and new life.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel”
(which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

As God came to be with us, didn’t He also open the door for us to come to Him? In coming to God, as we believe in Him, we receive the promise that He will be with us always. I love that we were not left as lonely lost children when earthly Jesus moved back to His heavenly quarters. God’s full presence continued through the Holy Spirit, and He is still with us. *

Wherever we are in life today, may we find comfort and joy in God’s presence. May we come as a little child, remembering the gift of the child and resting with the One who understands and loves us. God be with us.

*John 14
Charlotte-Anne Allen