This November I stumbled across a child’s Christmas game called “The Giving Manger”. With this game, families prepare for Christmas by filling the manger with straw for Baby Jesus. They must complete one act of service for each piece of straw they place to fill the manger. It is about loving and serving others as gifts for the Baby Jesus to make his bed fluffy and soft.

I loved this idea, and I thought, “Why can’t we do this as adults?” So I introduced the idea to our Grace Ladies Sunday School Class. My husband Scott built us a manger and, at Thanksgiving, we started filling it with (straw) golden strips of paper listing acts of love and service for others our class completed to honor Jesus this Christmas.

Doing acts of service this Christmas have helped me through the hard days of missing my dad on this first Christmas since he went to Heaven. Mother’s Day is my worst day for missing Mom. Christmas is going to be the hardest missing my dad.

Although we are continuing the acts of love and service through Christmas, this past Sunday was our last Sunday before Christmas that we would meet to place our straw in the manger together. It was time to place our Baby Jesus in the manger.

All I had was my baby doll from when I was a child, with hair missing and one eye stuck closed. Although she is precious to me, somehow, JoAnn just did not represent my Savior very well. So we turned to the scriptures to place our Jesus in the manger. I have Christmas ornaments with different names and descriptions of Jesus. We read the scriptures that go with each ornament and placed each one in the manger on top of our straw.

1. Baby In A Manager. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23

2. Door. “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9

3. Vine. “I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

4. Water. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” John 4:10

5. Light Of The World. Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12

6. Star. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am … the Bright Morning Star.

7. Lion. “…behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah …” Revelation 5:5

8. Lamb. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

9. Good Shepherd. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” John 10:11

10. King. “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords …” 1 Timothy 6:15

11. Bread. Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35

12. Savior. The Father has sent the Son (to be) the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 1 John 4:14-15

When God gave us His Son, He cared enough to send us the very best. Jesus was the greatest gift the world has ever seen. Although times are hard and our struggles are real, nothing is too hard or too big for that little Baby in the Manger. He is always with us ,”Immanuel”. He is the Vine who nourishes us, the Lion who protects us and the Lamb who sacrificed His all to save us from our sins. Nothing is so dark that the Light of the world cannot brighten it. There is no hunger that cannot be filled by the Bread of Life. No thirst that cannot be quenched by Living Water. No problem so bad that the Good Shepherd cannot lead us through it. He is our Door to everlasting life. He is our Sovereign King, and our Morning Star who guides us through our darkest night.

This love is what Christmas is all about. Christmas was a labor of love, a glorious gift, a portion of peace, help for the helpless, hope for the hopeless. For all who wait… For all who hunger… For all who pray… For all who wander… Behold, the Messiah has come!

Dear Lord: Thank You for sending Your Son to be born in a manger, to save us from our sins, to teach us how to love and to teach us how to live. What a precious gift to all mankind! Please help us to focus on the wonderful gift that Jesus is this Christmas, and to share His love with other people. Amen

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
May you feel the love and hope of the precious Christ child this Christmas and throughout the coming year. And may your acts of love and service during this Christmas Season help you to experience Baby Jesus in a whole new way. I know it has me!

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