Glad you’re back for the third day of the 7 Days of Christmas, a fun week of stories, thoughts and scripture leading up to Christmas Day. If you haven’t already subscribed to my blog, be sure to (button on the right of your screen) so tomorrow’s post will automatically pop up in your inbox.
“Then I remember something that fills me with hope. The Lord’s kindness never fails!” (Lam. 3:21-22 CEV)
It happened the year I took my outdoor nativity set to children’s church as a visual aid in telling the Christmas story onstage to a hundred kids.
Everything went great until the chubby eight-year-old playing Mary was startled by the heavenly host and fell backward on the plastic manger, smashing it to smithereens and sending doll-baby Jesus logrolling across the stage.
No silent night, that.
So we had no manger for the wee Savior in our yard crèche. It just didn’t seem right to lay the Prince of Peace on the bare ground, so we left him in the garage until we could find a replacement manger.
There they were – Mary, Joseph, sheep, and an angel looking lovingly down at … nothing.
The afternoon of Christmas Eve, I was sprawled on a hammock in my backyard praying about our manger-less manger scene. “Lord, we want to honor Your Son’s birth, but we’ve exhausted all manger ideas. Can you help us find a place for Jesus?”
Within minutes, a sunbeam pierced the thick canopy of oak leaves and spotlighted something metallic in our debris pile. The bright reflection made me squint – it was an old fireplace grate we’d discarded years ago. What d’ya know – the perfect manger!
That grate had been there all along, but I never noticed it until I asked for heavenly guidance.
How about you? Have you found a place for Jesus in your holy-day celebration? What crucial element might you be missing this Christmas season because you haven’t yet asked for Papa God’s help?
Prayer for today:
Light of the World, Shine upon the dark corners of my life in which I’ve neglected to include You.
*Excerpted from my 365-day devotional,
Too Blessed to be Stressed: Inspiration for Every Day.
