We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. Hebrews 2:16-18

The pastor at Jericho Rd. talked about this today and it's been on my mind all day. Christ became like us IN EVERY RESPECT. The fact that our huge, powerful, mighty God in whom the EVERYTHING was made and has it's being, compressed Himself to human form is iiiinnnncccrrreeddddiiibbbllle. How in the world can a God that big fit Himself fully into a tiny little baby? Even more, into the first stage of an embryo growing in a 13 year old virgin? He is enormous and became sooooo miniscule. I'm never going to complain about living in a small dorm again. God is so mysterious. It's so beautiful that God came here and experienced suffering. There are times when I cannot bear the suffering in the world. Not that I can't deal with the problems in my own life (although sometimes it seems like I can't) but I can't stand the amount of pain that people feel every day. My heart breaks for those who suffer, but how much more did and does it hurt Jesus to see people hurting. This is not how He intended the world to be. We are not the people He created us to be. I am not the version of myself He made. I'm a broken, decomposing, disappointing version of the Valerie he made. I'm a let down, but it's ok. He loves me. He understands the pain, suffering, and temptation. He's felt it. He's experienced it. He knows the difficulty of life on earth and because of that, He's merciful.

All of that is to say... I'm excited about the Advent season. I'm awaiting the birth of my Savior. He's coming. It's time to celebrate that this earth is not the end and our current state of depravity isn't where we'll end up. We have hope. We have a strong and perfect plea. We have Jesus. This is seriously the best time of year!