Braden, our first-born grand, spoke those words to me many times throughout a sixteen-month battle with cancer. Finally, on June 28, 2016, at 3.22pm, our family sat by his bedside and grieved as we watched our beloved's life slip into eternity. Braden was 14 years old. Our hearts were bruised by this crushing loss, but we weren't broken.
Braden's death is not the event that defined his life; that defining event took place in a hamlet called Bethlehem. It was there that God became a man. He came on a mission of redemption.
Christmas lowers our expectations and raises our HOPE. Christmas declares that redemption does not depend on us.
On that terrible day in the hospital, we waited as we leaned into the Savior's promise from John 6.47, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life."
His promise Lifts us.
His promise Keeps us.
His promise Carries us.
His promise Secures us.
His promise Empowers us.
He came to be with us so that when we take our last breath, we can go to be with Him.
Emmanuel: God with us...
HOPE is the anthem of my soul!
