Shell Point Pavilion Press December 2018

Page 1

December 2018

Pavilion Press

News, Events & Happenings at The Larsen Pavilion at Shell Point

Welcome to the

Larsen Pavilion Julie Dewitt Director of Nursing Pam Downing Assistant Director of Nursing First Floor: llomise Alexandre Nurse Manager Second Floor: Mary Lou Torressen Nurse Manager Third Floor: Lindsey Bryant Nurse Manager Rhanda Williams Admissions Director Simona Staicu Resident/Family Services Coordinator Tacey Larimer-Tettaton Activities Supervisor Mardee Lader Executive Secretary Associate Editor

15071 Shell Point Blvd. Fort Myers, FL 33908

(239) 415-5442

Immanuel – God With Us By Bonnie Palmquist, Assistant Chaplain

“Merry Christmas!” “Bah, Humbug!” Which of these greetings do you most identify with during the Christmas season? Bob Cratchit or Ebenezer Scrooge? There is a lot going on during this season, and life can get overly busy. Sometimes just the memories of Christmases past can bring on sadness and depression. The world seems to spin out of control with more and more urgency to buy “stuff.” The bright lights, perky music and glitzy displays sometimes seem fake. Is Christmas really a time to be merry? My favorite Christmas word is “Immanuel.” God with us – is that for real? John 1:1 says that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then in verse 14, we are told that “The Word became flesh and lived among us.” In Matthew 1, we are given the story of how an angel came to Joseph and told him to go ahead and marry Mary, who was already pregnant with a son from the Holy Spirit. Then Matthew goes on to quote from Isaiah: “All this is to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will

give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means ‘God with us.’” Jesus came to be God with us. How is God with us now, and what difference does it make this Christmas? When Jesus came to be “God with us,” the people of his day had the wrong expectations of what Immanuel would do for them. They expected military conquest. Sometimes we today have wrong expectations of what God should do for us, too. We think He should make our lives easier and give us what we pray for, but actually he came to be “Christ with you to form Christ in you.” A.W. Tozer said, “Most Christians are theological Christians. They’re trying to be happy without a sense of the Presence.” If it was important enough to God to be with us that He came as a human baby and grew as a man and chose to take our place of punishment on the cross, why do we try so hard to find happiness apart from Him? All the merriment of the Christmas season will be empty if that is where we are looking for happiness. God is our treasure, the source of our joy, and He is with us. Focus on being with Him this Christmas and rejoice in Immanuel – God with us!


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.