A Blessing Book

Christmas Stories for the Heart – Compiled by Alice Gray
Warms the heart - speaks to the soul.

Wanting to feel something of Christmas, I picked up this book on my last library run, and found many touching, heart-warming stories in it. One in particular that appealed to me was The Manger Was Empty, retold by Casandra Lindell, about a missing baby Jesus from a local church’s nativity scene. After searching around the church, the pastor reported the missing baby Jesus to the congregation. All were disappointed to think someone might take baby Jesus from the nativity scene.

Later in the afternoon, the pastor took a walk around the area and saw Tommy, a small boy he knew, pulling a wagon. As he came closer he saw baby Jesus, wrapped in a blanket, lying in the wagon. The pastor made it clear to little Tommy the seriousness of taking baby Jesus. The small boy looked up,tears beginning to slide down his cheeks and said, “But Pastor, I didn’t steal Jesus. It wasn’t like that at all. It’s just that I’ve been asking Him for a red wagon as a Christmas present for a long time—and I promised Him that when I got it I’d take Him out for the first ride.”

Another story was titled Daily Gifts by Charles Swindoll. He makes a number of one line suggestions, such as: "Mend a quarrel. Express appreciation. Give a soft answer even though you feel strongly. Encourage an older person." This last one might be difficult for me to do, if it means someone older than myself. I live in a seniors complex and right now I’m the oldest person here that I know, though I think there may be a few residents older than I am. I suppose I’ll just have to assume that everyone here is older than someone. Or maybe he means anyone who falls in a certain age category. [So you ask, where does old begin? I used to ask myself that; I don't anymore. Perhaps that too will become another blog.] Mr. Swindoll suggests maybe doing one of these gifts per day leading up to Christmas. [But why stop there?]

There are numerous other suggestions for giving gifts of yourself. Mr. Swindoll ends the list of gifts with the following:

“Let’s make Christmas one long, extended gift of ourselves to others. Unselfishly. Without announcement. Or obligation. Or reservation. Or hypocrisy. This is Christianity, isn’t it?”

Sharing: That's A Good Thing

I found out about this making a difference story through my grandson’s Facebook page. A senior at Francis Howell Central, he was chosen as rep to promote the drive there.

The TOMS Shoes Story: TOMS Shoes was founded in 2006 when American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created a company that would match every pair of shoes sold, with a pair given to a child in need. One for One. With a group of family, friends and staff, Blake returned to the same area later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers. Since that first Shoe Drop, TOMS Shoes has given over 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world.

See Matt's facebook page for more info. Or email him. matt.mason20@gmail.com

More Blessed to Give Than to Receive

A very interesting news story was featured today on local channel 5 St Louis, both on the morning and noon news. It seems to fall into the category of “It is more blessed to give than receive.”

The congregation had been told they would be given $10,000., broken up into varying dollar amounts to the individual members present. The members were given sealed envelopes of $20, $50, $100, and all were to be opened at the same time. They were told to give the money to a person or organization, outside their congregation, and were asked to write an account of how they had used the money, which would be posted on the church’s web page.

I would have liked to read the follow-ups, but I didn’t find a link to the church’s web site in the KSDK article, or by searching. Not sure why. I found the church and its address, but couldn’t come up with the web site. Perhaps will find it later.

This was very refreshing to hear and to read. I have seen so much recently of the angry, strident Christian, I have at times wondered if the Church has forgotten its mission. Why is so much anger spilling out of so many IF they profess to be Christians?

Is not the Love of God for man the dominant factor of the gospel message of Christianity? The by-product being man’s love of God and for his fellow man?

Is there not a better way to achieve a desired result? Or could it be that the shouting, rebellious Christian just gets more exposure.

This was a heart-warming story. I commend the pastor and the church. I look forward to seeing the results of their efforts to involve the membership in following in the Master’s footsteps.