Away in a manger
Are you away from those you hold most dear ? Are there misunderstandings or even death or divorce that keep you apart from loved ones in time, space or distance? Or is this a hard season for you for any reason at all ? There is someone who cares. Someone born AWAY IN A MANGER but not far away today!
Writing my emotions thru letters, prayers, poems & songs has comforted me since I was a child and I am often surprised at how much comfort my words bring to others~ similar to how a song can bring comfort to a child when a mother sings or just humms. Let’s write & sing & humm with & to ourselves and others to bring more comfort to the world starting with just a smile & a KIND WORD ~right in the mirror !
🎶 AWAY IN A MANGER ~ no crib for a bed ~ the little LORD JESUS laid down HIS sweet head ~~~~~The stars in the sky looked down where He lay ~ the little LORD JESUS asleep on the hay…🎶
Things certainly were not perfect ….they were less than ideal for THAT ROYAL birth ~ far & AWAY from home and no room in any inn but THERE WAS PEACE in that humble ground because the HOLY SPIRIT WAS PRESENT.
Amazingly PRESENTS started arriving . Worshipers celebrating the birth of the MOST HIGH came from all over because they knew the truth & wanted to SEE IT & get CLOSER . Angels started the chorus and the shepherds ( drummer boys ? 🥁) & even wise men later brought their most valuable gift each from the heart and with so much JOY . To some of us the BEST GIFT WOULD be:
✨TIME or a
✨TOUCH ( like a good hug !)
✨WORDS of affirmation like in a letter or a song ….
✨Acts of SERVICE
✨GIFTS!
HOW DO YOU GIVE & RECEIVE LOVE ? When we know ourselves & seek to understand others we can better give & receive love. There is always so much to learn because we do change & grow and need to ASK …ourselves & others.
So TODAY as I miss many I love ~ far far away in some cases. There is no distance in my heart…..Perhaps it is YOU I am thinking of so dearly right now ! I DO KNOW GOD IS THINKING OF YOU and believe that is why you are reading this. We are messengers . I hope to be a messenger and a GIFT of love to you & all I meet & know ! So I pray & write & sing & will ask you to wrap your arms around yourself & RECEIVE THIS HUG I AM SENDING & then HUMM along with me your favorite tune of the season or one of mine !
I write for ALL those I love & miss and all who read this sometimes purely by the hand of providence.
I ALSO PRAY this gives encouragement and hope just where you need it most. May this be an answer to both of us. It is is my gift to you today from my heart.
I CARE & that is why I SHARE! I write this today for love and out of my broken heart that Heaven keeps healing and holding together by amazing grace cords of love.
I forgive those who have misunderstood and hurt me because that is the habit my dear daddy modeled and taught me from a child. May we learn to forgive like Jesus did even on our crosses of sufferings and even for our enemies as was JESUS WAY. I know no other way. It is the way of peace and healing and have seen many suffer because they would not forgive or reach out & try to love again. Forgiveness is a gift I give myself as much as for the other person who may or may not know how much their words or actions ( or lack of words or actions or contact ) have grieved me. I ask their forgiveness as well for anything I might have done to cause harm. I never want to hurt anyone I pray we will all get the gift of forgiveness that is one of the BEST GIFTS OF ALL!
My dear daddy was very wise and like a grand~father & mentor to me. He was nearly 50 when I was born. I was his only daughter and he affectionately & humorously introduced me as ” My favorite & Hebrew Daughter along with His Hebrew Son” because he choose our names from the Bible. The Hebrew meaning of my name is compassionate, friend …. Names are important and can teach us much about ourselves & our destiny~ I recommend looking your name’s meaning up and/or pray about the meaning of your name to discover more about yourself. Our name is a key to our destiny and can especially help us when we are AWAY from who we love and things that are comfortable & familiar or need to start a new chapter of our lives.
How wonderful to be SO beloved by both my far from perfect parents but sadly there was a lot of disease and financial stress in my home after a horrible car accident when I was very little. Our car had plunged over the freeway’s edge at 50 mph and it rolled several times before it stopped and my mom was thrown many yards away . When she came to she thought we were all dead just before she passed out again after trying to get up. It seems we all passed out unconscious until a miraculous intervention saved us. My mom & I would most likely have bled to death if someone had not pulled over to help since this was way before cell phones . God made A WAY ! ( ask me about the REST OF THE STORY sometime…I do edit a lot out of stories to save YOU time !) Believe it or not !
There were dangerous medications causing nightmares along with concussion symptoms & other health challenges….some lasting for decades that are all part of what makes me unique. BUT GOD CAN MAKE A WAY & send healing even TODAY for us all ! OFTEN WITH PRAYER !
So much good did come from the tragedy but it takes EYES of GRACE to see and sometimes that includes time & experience. I am so grateful for how it shaped who I am and the many choices because of that abrupt turning point in my life. Painful at the time but I learned & grew so much in ways that were important. God was making A WAY for me even then.
Instead of being shy and afraid I had to learn to be brave. I wanted to be there for others who were in pain because of the hospital trauma where I felt lied to and/or abandoned by everyone including the nurses as I the painful needle pulled me back together and I counted each stitch. I just wanted to know how many and when the nurse across the room said just a couple more …I had believed her but nightmare did not end for a long time. I realized at a young age there is no one who understands or cares and can be with us all the time like Jesus can. Jesus said I AM THE WAY John 14:6
You see, just months before the car accident I had asked Jesus to become my best friend by inviting him into my heart through a simple prayer on my daddy’s lap after church one night when the sermon scared me about the reality of a hell. I wanted to go to heaven not hell like the Preacher had talked about.
How GLAD I AM THAT I GOT THE HELL SCARED OUT OF ME at 4 !!! HALLELUJAH !!
I HOPE TO SCARE IT OUT OF YOU TOO!!! SO you can sing HA HA HALLELUJAH with me too and chase away the fear & anger & pain of this world ! There is no other comfort like the WORDS of Jesus to my heart & soul. Do you know & trust Jesus ? Do you want to know God’s LOVE ? Just say a simple prayer like a child and God will send answers when you ASK ! GOD WILL MAKE A WAY for YOU!
Even at that small age after the car accident I wanted to SPEAK UP for those who had no voice or were too weak or just felt alone.
Well~ we can ONLY choose our response & take our emotions and recreate something good out of what seems like a mistake or a tragedy. May we choose to keep learning & growing and share humor & love wherever we are , like my dear daddy did for 80 wonderful years. I have missed my parents and first son since they all died in the 1990’s. I REMEMBER them each fondly and because I write & talk about them along with others who have died like another son last year ~ it seems to help them seem near and chase away the tears that still flow and pain that grief will bring like unexpected waves at times. Feeling the pain but not getting pulled under & stuck in it is healing. We must feel our emotions and then do something constructive with them ~ like move & create & reach out to help others.
This helps bring healing and even heaven to earth ~ one action at a time. I get thanked daily for some of the simplest acts of kindness that any one can do. A cup of kindness I call it ….It could be a cup or bottle of water or an apple for a homeless person ~ EVERYONE needs a smile & a kind greeting especially in times like these. REACH OUT ~ SMILE & GREET ALL YOU MEET . You will find that the nobleness & love you give away WILL return to you some day when you most need it also ! Not where you think ~ God shows up in mysterious ways and the Bible tells a lot of those mysterious stories to show us HIS WAY!
The most famous stories of all time are full of separation & difficulties and often start in humble & what seems to be unlikely beginning places.
One phrase and most of the world knows the same story we are talking about from the MOST FAMOUS STORY OF ALL TIME ” AWAY IN A MANGER” or “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” or so many many more about that Oh HOLY NIGHT when there was a SPECIAL STAR shining SO bright in the darkest of times !
In pondering this during my prayer time first thing this morning a poem starting coming to me. For decades I have written my prayers & poems in journals before or after my habit of daily Bible reading.
Here are 2 of my new verses (part of a longer poem ) to AWAY in a Manger that I wrote this morning:
🎶The Story of JESUS a child can RECEIVE ~ but grown~ups forget or are often deceived
🎶We must be like children to SEE the PURE THINGS
🎶Like Jesus the sacrifice LAMB & TRUE (LION) KING!
🎶NOW what can we do to show JESUS we care ? ~
🎶Let’s give Him our HEART & show love everywhere~
🎶For that is the message from that HOLY NIGHT ~
🎶TO SHINE FORTH THE KINGDOM OF PUREST D*LIGHT ~~~ grace’t*ruth
May this & every season remind us of the reason we are still here & why the
King of glory arrived AWAY IN A MANGER & WANTS TO BRING COMFORT & JOY TO EVERY PLACE !
GOOD CHEER TO YOU & YOURS AS YOU CELEBRATE YOUR DAYS & HOLY NIGHT(s)
MAY THEY ALL BE WITH & IN D*LIGHT
Lovingly
with grace & truth
your friend ~ even to the end …..which is really just a new beginning
PS AND ….If you are grieving the loss of someone or REMEMBERING my dear Son Joshua as I am perhaps this touching song will help you cry out a few more healthy & healing tears like it did for me when I heard it ! May GOD’S LOVE RAISE YOU UP over the ashes of life to SEE THE MANGERS & THE CROSSES of life , that can seem like a bloody mess actually turn into the places that lift us up to SEE LIFE ETERNAL FULL OF HOPE & JOY & ABUNDANCE EVEN :
For more on Jesus Birthplace & prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures check out this Link especially if you are are seeker of truth or Jewish or just CURIOUS ~~like a child.
https://jewsforjesus.org/messianic-prophecies/the-messiah-would-be-born-in-bethlehem
SHALOM ! & IF YOU RECEIVED & BELIEVED THEN GO TELL …SOMEONE & SPREAD THE LOVE
GOOD WILL ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN
