Episode Summary

In this episode, we sit with one of the most tender and often misunderstood names of God: Emmanuel, God with us.

For many of us, “God with us” sounds beautiful… but feels far away, especially when grief, loneliness, shame, or exhaustion are pressing in. Instead of offering explanations or tidy theology, this episode makes space for honesty, lament, and presence.

We explore how Emmanuel did not begin in the manger, but in the cry of an enslaved people where God first revealed himself as the One who sees, knows, and comes near. Not to rush us forward, but to sit beside us.

This episode is for anyone who feels weary this Christmas. For anyone who doesn’t need fixing, only companionship.

Exodus 3:7–8 (NIV)

“The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out… and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them…’”

This is the birthplace of Emmanuel, the God who sees, knows, and comes down to be with his people.

Mentioned in This Episode

The Joyful Journey: Listening to Emmanuel by Dr. James Wilder, Anna Kang, John Loppnow and Sungshim Loppnow

The Rabbit Listened by Cory Doerrfeld [read to you by me - on instagram]

Emmanuel Journaling Bonus Episode. Interested? Email me: Julie@ParentForward.com

Closing Prayer [inspired by The Rabbit Listened]

Father God,
I don’t need you to fix this right now.
I don’t need answers.
I don’t need explanations.
I just need you here.

Father, sit with me in this place.
This place I don’t know how to clean up.
This place I don’t know how to name.
This place that still hurts.

I bring you the grief I can’t carry,
the anger I don’t know what to do with,
the exhaustion that won’t lift,
and the ache that words can’t reach.

Father, you see me.
You know what this feels like from the inside.
And you’re not afraid of any of it.

So stay with me, Emmanuel.
Hold what I cannot.
Carry what is too heavy.
Be near enough that I can breathe again.

I don’t need to feel better.
I don’t need to be okay.
I just need to know that I am not alone.

And I trust, even here,
that you are with me.

In your name, Father. Amen.

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The moment my hand met the cold stone in Nazareth, the story shifted from stained glass to skin. We meet Mary not as a distant icon but as a teenage girl in a small, ordinary room whose life was interrupted by impossible news and who chose to treasure and ponder rather than shut down. That posture becomes our guide for Advent, a way of holding confusion without losing the thread of hope.

I share the journey from jet lag to the Church of the Annunciation, down into the grotto that tradition calls Mary’s home, and how that space reframed Luke’s quiet line: she treasured these things and pondered them in her heart. We explore what treasuring means in practice and why it matters for a restless brain. When stress closes in, the amygdala narrows attention to threat. By pausing to let a small mercy land, a kind word, a warm touch, a moment of ease, we feed our nervous system evidence of safety and let goodness register long enough to become memory.

The road then winds to Bethlehem, where a glittering tree clashes with the raw reality of a birth in a cave. With help from older Christian symbolism, the evergreen becomes more than décor: life that holds through winter, light threaded into darkness. The problem isn’t the tree; it’s the pressure we wrap around it. When we let go, the symbol points us back to Mary’s reality and our own: God arriving in ordinary places amid noise, scarcity, and uncertainty.

You’ll leave with a simple daily practice for December: name one small mercy and give it ten extra seconds. Write it down, breathe it in, whisper thank you. It won’t erase the hard parts, but it will widen your capacity to feel God’s nearness, not just think about it. If this conversation helped you slow down and find light in ordinary moments, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs calm, and leave a review so others can discover these grounded practices. What small mercy will you treasure today?

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The holidays can feel like life on fast-forward: bright, loud, and strangely thin. We’re told to be present and grateful, yet our minds race and our senses pull inward to cope. This conversation slows the moment down and shows a kinder way forward—how quiet noticing interrupts overwhelm and makes room for gratitude that actually sticks.

We begin by naming what’s real: December pressures the nervous system to scan for problems, not beauty. From there we explore a gentler practice of attention—lingering for one breath when a small good thing appears. A laugh from the next room, the warmth of a mug, the way light rests on a wall. These aren’t big spiritual performances; they’re soft openings where gratitude starts. We draw on two anchors from Scripture: Mary being met in an ordinary day with the words you are highly favored, and Moses hearing God’s promise, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. The Hebrew panim—face—reminds us that presence is attention turned toward us, producing not mere relaxation but groundedness and courage.

You’ll hear simple, story-driven examples—a dad undone by a child’s quiet touch, a crowded evening interrupted by a single laugh—that illustrate how small sparks can reorient a tired heart. We offer a clear practice to try this week: choose one moment, only one, and let it land for the length of a breath. No striving, no checklist, just enough space to notice what’s quietly good. Along the way, we hold both ache and hope, honoring Advent as a season where longing and nearness live side by side.

If this resonates, take the practice with you and see what shifts. Subscribe for the next part of the series where we’ll learn how to treasure those small joys so they settle deeper. If today helped you breathe easier, share it with a friend and leave a review—what small mercy did you notice?

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Let’s Stay Connected:

• Instagram: @parentforwardpodcast
• Website: www.parentforward.com