Good Morning Everyone,
Alone. Are there many words more sad than
I am alone? I recognize we all have times we
like to be alone, but to be that way too much,
to become isolated without support of friends
or family can be very hard.
Sometimes we need someone to remind
us that while we are looking around
while we are busy shopping
while we are busy on the computer, the
phone, with the television, someone has been
right there beside us.
There is a companion who is with us always,
and we may have neglected him worse than
we are feeling neglected.
Even though the Christ child came to save the
world, many have not let him do so.
They have made him a 911 Jesus. For times of crisis
only. Yet, if we but took time each day to cry out to
Him, and put our trust in him, and truly believe He
cares about the deepest of our needs, and feelings
and problems, we would find courage and sustenance
for the day.
Sometimes we let life get so complicated we forget
the source of our strength, and find by the end of
the day we are weary, drained, and sometimes
we feel hopeless.
Perhaps you need to fill up your spiritual gas tank
with the Word of God, and find that peace that
passes all understanding.
Take a minute, and look at the nativity. The prince
of peace has come to seek and to save that which
is lost. Is He gaining your attention today? What
place does He have in your life, and how is that
working for you? How will it stand the test of
eternity?
Only one life, will soon be past,
only what is done for Christ will last.
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
love
millie
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A Russian Christmas Story - "For Always"
by Will Fish
In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:
It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear for the first time the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.
Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word.
Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city. Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel (cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia) were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.
The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat--he looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger.
Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at his completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately --until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger.
Then Misha started to ad lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, "And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?" And Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me." "So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him---for always."
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him--FOR ALWAYS.
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." -Deuteronomy 6:7
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