Immanuel, God with us.. Very powerful words. It hit me this morning while doing my quiet time, I was reading the Christmas story in Matthew. And there it was, the words just jumped out at me ” Immanuel, God with us “now I have read those words a hundred times but it hit me this morning, it made me realise how often in my 25 years of ministry  I have felt alone. I am just being honest here, but full time ministry can be a very lonely life at times. As a matter of fact, there were so many times when I felt like just giving up and go to work at Costco ( yep you heard me, Costco )  but in reality, ministry is a calling, and it is a calling that we were never meant to be alone in. Yes I will get tired at times, I will get frustrated at times, and yes, I will feel lonely at times. But God reminded me today, I am not in this alone, and if I was, well I would have been gone a long time ago. Immanuel, God with us! We are not alone!