I recieve a daily devotional from Pastor Kerry Nelson of the Covenant Lutheran Church of Houston, Texas. Covenant Lutheran Church I wanted to share today's devotional with you-

Good morning. Welcome to Wednesday, December 22nd.

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
paper 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 this 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.

I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but WHO you have
in your life that counts.
________________
By the way, Pastor Nelson is an open and affirming Pastor. He has mentioned it in his devotionals.



[This message was edited by Blyth on December 22, 2004 at 08:19 AM.]