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

--Matthew 1:23

It was in my hand when I entered the building, the little card that says, "Jesus is with me," The nurses saw it as they got me ready for surgery. It was in my hand as they tried over and over to get an IV in me. Jesus kept the pain from being too much and kept my anxiety at bay. “Thank you for being with me.”

I went from room to room preparing for my surgery. In each place, I had to leave things: my purse, my keys, my phone, my coat and my clothes. But no one asked to see the paper in my hand or why I had it. No one asked me to leave it behind and Jesus kept me calm.

I gave it to Robert just before they took me into surgery. I told him he might need it while I was gone - to remind him – and to keep it safe because I would need it back in a few hours. He chuckled, gave me a quick kiss, said goodbye, and I was off to the surgery room.

The next thing I knew, I was out of post-op and had been taken to my room. There I went in and out of consciousness. The first thing I heard and understood was Robert's voice saying, "I kept it safe for you," as he laid the card on my cart. Each of the nurses saw it there on my tray as they took care of me, but no one asked or said anything about it. That is, all but one.

The head RN was getting concerned. I was supposed to go home, but part of my body was not waking up. They took away all food, water, and pain medication. It felt like torture. I couldn't sit up or roll from side to side. There was so much pain.

The RN spied my card on the cart. She grabbed it up and held it close to my face and said "You better start praying to Him that your belly wakes up or we will be forced to take you to another hospital to put you in ICU. There's nothing more we can do."

So, Robert and I prayed.

It wasn't 5 minutes later, and I needed the bathroom. But that was not good enough for the nurse. When I got back into bed, she picked up the card again and said "You've got to pray to Him now and pray hard! I promise you, when things look the most hopeless, that's when He swoops in and saves the day!”

We prayed some more and step by step everything started getting better. I have never heard such a celebration from so many nurses and staff as I did the day my belly woke up! They all seemed to be praising God!

And they called him Immanuel, God is with Us.

Jesus is with me.

Sometimes it just takes a piece of paper to remind us of the truth. To remind us that the baby came for us. He came to be with us. That He came to be our Immanuel.

Jesus is with me.


For reflection

When was the last time you felt Jesus’ presence and knew He was with you? How did it make you feel? Overwhelmed? Calm? Anxious? Peaceful?

Have you ever experienced a time when you could not feel His presence? Why do you think that was?

Does knowing that he promises to be with us, to be our Immanuel, bring you peace?