Christmas 2013

[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 has been posted each day over the last two weeks.]

Dr. and Mrs. Paul Manuel

Christmas 20013

Dear Friends and Family,

Sometimes the ordinary things we experience can help us appreciate the extraordinary things God does. Over the summer, for example, Linda started feeding a stray female cat that appeared in our yard. As far as we could tell, she did not belong to anyone, and we assumed she sought shelter at night in a nearby barn. When fall came and the temperature dropped, Linda was concerned the cat might not survive the winter (succumbing either to the cold or to the coyotes), so she prevailed upon me to adopt the cat and bring her inside. After making that decision, we learned that she came with two kittens. (It was, I discovered, a package deal.) The three of them have since made several trips to the vet for their obligatory checkup and vaccinations. It has become an expensive investment, one that, to protect, requires they now remain inside, away from predators and contagious feline diseases.

We have noticed that adopting them is similar to what God did in adopting us, albeit on a far grander scale, by sending His son at Christmas.

• Similar to but more significant than the situation with the cats, God has taken us in and given us hope for a future better than any we would have on our own.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.... I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. (John 10:10, 28)

• Similar to but more significant than the situation with the cats, God has paid a considerable price for us, one we could not afford on our own.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

• Similar to but more significant than the situation with the cats, God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.

The Son of Man [came] to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt 20:28)

• Similar to but more significant than the situation with the cats, God has intervened in our lives for good in ways we do not know.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Cor 2:9)

Sometimes the ordinary things we experience can remind us about the extraordinary things God did for us when He sent Jesus that first Christmas.

The cats are providing us with hours of entertainment since we made them part of our family. I do not know if God finds us entertaining since He as made us part of His family. In any case, He does not ask that we entertain Him, only that we serve Him. As Jesus also said, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only" (Matt 4:10). May God find you faithful as you worship and serve Him this season and throughout the New Year. Merry Christmas!

Pastor and Linda