Two Babes In A Manger

TWO BABES IN A MANGER

 
Dear Champions,
 
I do not know who the author of this story is, but it is very touching.
 
In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics based on biblical principles in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of a government-run program were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words:

It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem.  Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.  Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger.  Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city.  Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw.  Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.
 
The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously.  For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately-until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib.
 
He made up his own ending to the story as he said, And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay.  I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I do not have any place to stay.  Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I could not because I did not have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.
 
So I asked Jesus, If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?  And Jesus told me, If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me. So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him for always.
 
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed.  The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him for always.
 
Matthew 28:20  . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

God Sought Me

God Sought Me

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by former Greystone camper Kelly Blount Grimsley, and the Scripture is Romans 10:20 And Isaiah boldly says, I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.
 
Two weeks into our six week Greystone session, my parents dropped the bomb of their divorce.  I spent the next decade truly shell shocked, hurt, angry and lost.  I threw everything but God into the God shaped hole in my heart.  I never sought Him because I did not know how.  I accepted Christ during my five years at Greystone and had a Christian foundation laid, but I was nowhere near beginning a relationship with Christ. 
 
I somehow survived my rebellious teen years bouncing from one boarding school to another and married Mike when I was 21.  Mike was 34, a good man, from a good Christian family but had not begun living for Christ yet.  Boy do opposites attract!   Mike frequently points out that God called us together because it was a guaranteed way to have us searching for Him.  As our marriage inevitably unraveled, that is exactly what we did.  Mike took the Disciples study and dragged me kicking and screaming into it the following year. 
 
Through studying His word, our marriage not only survived, but began to thrive.  God calmed the raging storm that was within me, as only He can. Someone had prayed for me and though I was not seeking God, God sought me.  Though I was on a self destructive path, God guided my way and I came to know and love Christ, and He chose a husband for me that has come to be a strong spiritual leader for our family.
 
My parents divorce, death of friends, self destruction, marriage, children, and even a serious illness with our middle child have all proved Romans 8:28.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.   I believe prayers are the reason, and the power of prayer has become very real to me. I feel called to work with youth because someone prayed for me, and the power of a praying person has proven the difference that one person praying can make in the life a struggling kid. 
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

God is Our Head Coach

God is Our Head Coach
 

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs from his book Gameplan For Life, and the Scripture is Matthew 4:19  Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men.
 
When I came to believe that God had created me and that I was no accident, I should have been willing to let God be in charge of my life, but that realization came much later for me.
 
Football players have to let their coach be in charge.  For many of them, that is not easy.  One of my favorite guys to coach was quarterback Joe Theismann.  He had a passion to succeed, but left to his own wishes, he would have liked to call every play.  He was the type of player who would rather kneel in the huddle and draw up a play in the dirt than let the coach call the plays.
 
At our quarterback meeting before my very first preseason game with the Redskins, I outlined an involved game plan that we had been laboring over all week.  Then I made the mistake of asking if anybody had anything to add.  Well, Theisman had a million suggestions-things he saw, things he wanted to try.  Finally, I had to interrupt him and remind him of who was in charge, that there was already a game plan in place, and that it was his job to carry it out.
 
Everyone seems to have an idea about God, but only one view of God can be correct.  It does not make sense that He can be something different for every person.  If that were true, we would be guilty of creating God in our own image, rather than the other way around. Everybody is going to follow somebody.  In football, it is the head coach, and in life it is God.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining