Emmanuel: An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always By Ruth Chou Simons

Emmanuel: An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always

by Ruth Chou Simons

Publisher: Harvest House

ISBN: 978-0-7369-8496-6

When I found out our women's small group was going to be going through this beautiful book for the month of December, I was tasked with putting together a group order. When I was chatting with the publisher, they agreed to send me a copy for review. Words won't do it justice!

Summary:

Let Your Christmas Hope Last All Year Long

If there’s one name for Jesus that captures the whole heart of God, it is Emmanuel—God with us. No other name similarly expresses the fullness of God’s eternal desire for His image-bearers. He’s always wanted us to be with Him.

From the bestselling author and artist behind GraceLacedand Beholding and Becoming comes this gorgeously illustrated Advent exploration of what it means to intimately experience God’s presence in our daily lives. Ruth Chou Simons welcomes you and your family to partake in a season of surrender as you discover the true miracle behind Christmas: that while we journey to grow in our relationships with Jesus, He has already come so He can be with us forever.

Christmas Day is not the end of our celebrations, but the beginning! Emmanuel is an invitation to rejoice in the everlasting fellowship and hope God extended to us on the day of His Son’s birth, guiding us to realize that having God with us all year long is Christmas’s most incredible gift.

My Review:

If you're acquainted with Ruth Chou Simons you know how incredible her art is. I was introduced to it a couple of years ago on Instagram. She is incredibly gifted. This past spring our women's small group went through her Bible study TruthFilled.

As we headed into the Christmas season our small group took a pause on the study we were doing in the book of John and transitioned to Emmanuel for the month of December. I was thrilled because I had seen the book via Ruth's Instagram. I was excited to have some of Ruth's art in our home in the form of this book.

Emmanuel, while a book set for the time of Advent, is really a book that can be read (or displayed) year round. This would/will make a great display on my long table. It's split into 

Each day starts off with Scripture. Then Ruth shares her heart for that day, giving us beautiful Truth about God's Word. Then there's a time to Ponder what we've read, Praise with a carol or worship song, and then a Prayer. What's great is, with the Praise, Ruth has created a Spotify list that you can play for each day. There's also one of her works of art with a phrase from that day's reading pulled out and highlighted.

While we've been reading this for our women's small group, I'm going to have my husband go through it with me as our evening devotional to start the year off. 

About the Author:

Ruth Chou Simons is a bestselling and award-winning author of several books—including GraceLaced, Beholding and Becoming, and Foundations. She is an artist, entrepreneur, and speaker, using each of these platforms to spiritually sow the Word of God into people's hearts. Through her online shoppe at GraceLaced.com and her social media community, Simons shares her journey of God's grace intersecting daily life with word and art. Ruth and her husband, Troy, are grateful parents to six boys—their greatest adventure.

www.gracelaced.com