Emmanuel, God with us, thank You for surrounding us with the Hope that only Christ can bring.  Let our words mean something Lord.  Let our words reflect our actions that glorify our Father in heaven.  Let our faith be the driving force that propels us forward into this Advent season into a deeper relationship with the One who saves us from sin and death.  Let our hearts be genuine, true and honest so that we can share the same love that You shared with us by sending Your only Son to this earth as a fragile baby that would save this world from it’s own destruction, it’s own hate and it’s own despair. So as we open the last present and take down the last ornament from our tree we can celebrate the birth of the Savior all the rest of our days because we are redeemed and loved by God and that bond can never and will never be broken.