I am thankful for Ruth Cho Simons and her heart for the Lord. This is a great resource to aid your personal time in the Word during the Advent season. If you are looking for an Advent plan, I recommend Emmanuel.

Ideal for anyone looking for a short devotional for the Advent season. Several great elements - scripture, devotion/mediation, and a carol for each day. Bonus points for audio narration by Ruth Chou Simons herself. Would be good for the whole family to use together.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an audio galley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I adore Ruth Chou Simons. Her writing and her voice is so peaceful and calming. Her entire teaching fits her personality as well. This advent devotional was such a reset. A beautiful way of refocusing on the important of the Christmas season: Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

Author Ruth Chou Simons has created a beautiful advent devotional that helps draw the reader closer to the Savior. I recently had the opportunity to review the audiobook of Emmanual. It was read by the author who has a very soothing voice. As Simons discusses how our hearts may be distracted during the holiday season, she encourages the reader to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Each day offers a thought-provoking essay, a suggested song of Christmas to meditate on, and a prayer to close out the day.
As the cover reveals, Simons is a gifted artist so my first recommendation would be to buy the physical book (I purchased a copy after listening to the audiobook). If however, in this busy season, you just don't have time to read, then I highly recommend the audiobook. It could be listened to by the whole family while eating dinner or played before bedtime or listened to during a commute to work. The only disappointment was that I wish the suggested song had actually been played on the audiobook. Or even just have the words read. Some songs may not be familiar to everyone and I feel that the richness of the devotional would be enhanced if the music had been included. So if you listen to the audiobook, you may want to have a hymnal handy (or employ a search engine) to find the hymn to listen to. I do like the fact that music is incorporated into each day. There are many beautiful Christmas hymns and only so many Sundays at church to sing them.

If you are looking for a new way to prepare room in your heart this Christmas for the Savior, I highly recommend, Emmanuel. Whether you read it as a family or on your own, Simon's book will help center your advent on the One who came to save us. At one of the busiest, most chaotic times of the year, with pressures of various kinds, there is no better time to prepare room for Emmanual in our hearts and homes.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital audiobook of Emmanuel for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Audio for my copy of Emmanuel An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always by Ruth Chou Simons Narrated by Ruth Chou Simons in exchange for an honest review. It published September 13, 2022.
First off, I just adore when authors read their works, it makes the listening experience that much better! Ruth Chou Simons does a fabulous job reading this book.
This was a lovely advent devotional, it would be so helpful and special during the advent season. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to have something more spiritual during Christmastime!

I love Ruth Chou Simons. All her books have a special place in my heart and on my shelf, and Emmanuel is no different. I saw her speak at a ladies even this summer, and the person she is on the page is exactly the same person she is in real life--genuine, open, honest, and humble.

Emmanuel is a book meant to focus our hearts toward Christ during the season of advent, but it isn't just for the few weeks leading up to Christmas. We can focus on the advent of Christ year round. I'm so grateful to Ruth for this beautifully written, heartfelt devotional guide, and I can't recommend it highly enough. I love that she narrates her own books, too. She's such a talented artist and writer.

Thank you so much for this gifted copy of Emmanuel! Ruth Chou Simons is such a gifted writer, and has a way to really draw her readers in. I loved this audiobook so much, I immediately bought the paper copy to have in my home to read each Christmas, for years to come. I really liked how she ended each day with ponder, praise and pray, giving people good things to think of

Each year I look for a new book to go through during Advent. As one of my selections this year I've chosen Emmanuel by Ruth Chou Simons. I'm doing the audio version of it that is read by Ruth herself. It's absolutely lovely.

It's divided into 25 different daily readings and the audio version is about five minutes each. Ruth's voice has a tone that is soothing and invites the listener to slow down and ponder what is being said. It would be the perfect companion to the busy momma. Short, sweet encouragement to start the day.

I don't think I've ever bought both the audio version and the physical version of a book before but for this one I really must. As I just said I loved the audio version but I adore Ruth's artwork so I am going to have to purchase the hard copy as well.

If you're looking for a way to celebrate the season of Advent you can't go wrong with either edition.

I received a copy of this audiobook to facilitate my review.

What a lovely book to dive into for 25 days of reading and meditating on the Lord, His goodness, and His faithfulness. Ruth is such a woman of beautiful wisdom, and this book passes some of that wisdom along to the reader. Coming into the Christmas season, this book is sure to get your heart in the position to make room for Christ.

Emmanuel by Ruth Chou Simons is a wonderful devotional that focuses on developing a closer relationship with Christ and knowing Him in a more intimate way. This would be perfect to listen to in the first 25 days of December, leading up to Christmas, but would also be a wonderful reminder of the presence of Emmanuel (God with us) in our daily lives. Beautifully narrated by the author herself, I would highly recommend this audio devotional. Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook and provide my honest opinion.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. What a beautiful book! Perfect for the Christmas season. Highly recommend for all Christian's out there.

Okay, first of all, if you listen to the audiobook on this one, you will have Ruth Chou Simon’s calming and soothing voice to great you every morning. She has an amazing reading voice. Secondly, this book is really great for if you want to reflect on God’s goodness during the holiday season. As I went through it, every day was ushering in the opportunity to focus on Christ and the gift of his birth in a beautiful way. This would be a great devotional to do by yourself or as a family. I’m not sure it would be suited for a small group study, though.

Beautifully written, well narrated. This is a well-thought-out gorgeous read. I look forward to getting to go through it during advent and focus in Christ.

Many Christmas/Advent devotionals focus on the hullabaloo of the holidays. This book takes a very different approach, reminding us of the nature of God and his willingness to reach down to us.

I recommend getting the print version of this book because audio doesn’t really work for daily devotions. It’s hard to keep your place, and you’ll miss out on the author’s gorgeous watercolors that add a lot to the book. I also feel like it’s harder to connect to the content deeply when it’s being read to me and I can’t easily go back to review at my own pace.

This book would be a great respite to the more frantic pace of December.

a wonderful book to prepare our hearts for the christmas season. it was insightful & biblically rich which i appreciated it, i especially liked the prayers at the end of each chapter. i also loved how it was a truthfilled reminder of the true meaning of the holiday season. definitely a great choice for those looking for an book to enter advent. i also really enjoyed the narration by the author, her reading was easy to listen to and it was well done. also the cover is gorgeous, im sure the papercopy is stunning & would be a beautiful addition to anyones library. this would also make for a good gift.

Emmanuel : An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always by Ruth Chou Simons
This advent devotional is a quiet and introspective way to prepare for the Christmas season. This calming audio is designed to be listened to in December, finishing on Christmas Day.
Each day begins with a devotional, a Bible verse to Ponder, a song to Praise God with and a Prayer to close the reading.
I think this is a good way to prepare our hearts for Jesus each advent season.
#netgalley

This was a lovely advent devotional. I listened to the audio version and greatly enjoy Ruth Chou Simons soft & gentle reading. It is always so great when the author is the narrator! There were so many times that I needed to pause and reflect on certain statements that were read. it really emphasized how great and holy Jesus is, Emmanuel - God with us. Simons has a great way of leading us through who God is and why Christmas is important. i look forward to reading this with my family at Christmas time and greatly recommend it!

Emmanuel, An Invitation to Prepare Him Room at Christmas and Always was written by Ruth Chou Simons and narrated by the author. I gave this a 4⭐️. I chose to listen to this book on audio and I was touch by the authors voice and sincerity. It was a carefully laid out 25 day journey about Christ and Christmas. She addressed “our posture” to begin this and gave wonderful advice and scripture about facing my Christmas Season. Reminding me what it’s for. Each day is left for something to ponder and a special prayer. If you’re like me and look every year for a Christmas devo then this might be for you.
Thanks Dreamscape Media via Netgalley.

I have received this audiobook from netgalley for my honest review. This book is very interesting topic. I don't care for the Bible version used, but for the most part the lessons were great. One thing that needs fix is moving the Bible verses for the lessons to the beginning of that lesson not at the end of the lesson before. The lessons gives the author's view, a ponder, a praise, and a prayer.

4 loving stars

From the publisher: “If there’s one name for Jesus that captures the whole heart of God, it is Emmanuel—God with us... He’s always wanted us to be with Him.”

Each day of the Advent devotions in Ruth Chou Simons’ Emmanuel follows a formula that works well for a short devotion: Bible verse, Our Response, Ponder, Praise, Pray. The response is a short reflection which is both practical, biblical, and easy to follow. Ponder poses simple questions to challenge and transform your faith. In the Praise Section, the title of a Christmas Carol is listed. The prayers are heartfelt.

Ruth Chou Simons’ voice is warm and welcoming. Each devotion lasts about 5 minutes and feels like a warm, gentle invitation to experience so much more than the secular trappings of the Christmas season.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.