'You are a free person because of this Good News: Jesus loves every last one of us.'

Kathy Clark's world was turned upsidedown when her age 20 daughter, Emily, was tragically killed in an accident. This is her story.

This Advent season, take a moment to reflect on each of these four themes so that they help you to faithfully and expectantly wait for Jesus' return, just like the Israelites waited for the Messiah to be born.

Lift your head, dear daughter. That is where you will see me. Lift your head, dear daughter. That is where you will hear me. Lift your head, dear daughter. That is where you will know me. And when you do, I will already be there waiting.

God is like the parent. Watching as we make our bread. Removing the shell pieces, stepping in to fix our mistakes then watching as we proudly boast our many accomplishments. When really, it was God who was making the bread. We were just cracking the eggs. Shell pieces and all.

I can tell ya right now, that Jesus wasn’t experiencing HAPPINESS regarding the circumstances that awaited Him on the day of His crucifixion. There is nothing “happy” about being mocked, spit on, flogged & whipped, tortured and crucified by the ones you were choosing to DIE for. 

I cried out to God each and every day in that book. I wrote down all the things I'd been hiding -- the bruises, the abuse, the self-doubt, the sadness, the anger and all my fears. I wrote down all the years of hurt and began to find hope.

At eight months of pregnancy, he beat her so bad she almost miscarried you. Bleeding, left her at my doorstep saying, 'here is your daughter, that baby isn’t mine.'

So, dear friend, take a deep breath, knowing you’re not a minute behind schedule. You’ve come so far, and have quite an adventure ahead.

In worship, I wasn’t just singing along with words on a screen, but I saw each word come to life and I understood them completely for the first time. I didn’t strive to feel your presence in my prayers today because I knew you were sitting right next to me, holding my hand.