Christmas, 2004

[Dr. Manuel recently provided me with the Christmas letters he and his wife Linda have sent each year since 2001.
One of the annual letters will be posted each day over the next two weeks.]

Dr. and Mrs. Paul Manuel

Christmas 2004

Dear Friends and Family,

After thirty years of marriage and, between school and ministry, almost as many years of wandering, we are in our new home this holiday season. It is a modest (1860 sq. ft.) three-bedroom ranch, yet with a full basement and attached two-car garage, having a lovely view of the rural Pennsylvania countryside. We have been able to unpack many things that have followed us from place to place but never made it out of boxes. Linda, who had been watching the Home and Garden channel for quite a while, hoping one day to apply some of the program's ideas, has been enjoying the opportunity to paint and decorate. We have even remodeled one of the basement rooms as a gym, eliminating the need to drive thirty miles to the YMCA.

At this time last year, we were looking for a house but (I, at least, was) not very optimistic about finding one that we could afford and that would meet our needs—let alone some of our wants. We looked at several other places, but none was quite right for us. When, through a series of circumstance we could not have orchestrated, we were able to purchase this place, we were thrilled and conscious of God's gracious hand in the process.

As I was selecting the music for our Christmas program this year, a combination of congregational hymns and choir pieces, the familiar "Away in a Manger" caught my attention. One hymnal resource describes it as "the musical equivalent of a child's Christmas card with its quaint nativity scene colored by crayons or markers."

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.

The lilting melody only enhances "the childlike charm" of this lullaby.

Although the contrast between Jesus' situation and our situation has always been evident, it made a particular impression upon me this year. We celebrate our first Christmas in a new home; he celebrated his first Christmas (so to speak) in no home.

[When Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son, [s]he wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

Our appreciation of the contrast is even greater when we consider what he gave up for us. The apostle Paul writes:

Christ Jesus...being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:5-7)

Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

The wonder of Christmas is that Jesus' sacrifice did not begin at the cross; it began at his birth.

May the love of Jesus, who gave his life for us, encourage you to trust him and inspire you to serve him. And may God grant you His peace and blessing this New Year.

Pastor and Linda